


I have crossed the horizon to find you

by somethingmorecreative



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Familiar Keith, Familiars, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith is a wolf shifter with fire magic, Lance is a mage with ice magic, M/M, Mage Lance (Voltron), Mages, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Protective Keith (Voltron), Smitten Keith (Voltron), Soul Bond, Witch's Familiar Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:02:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25277383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingmorecreative/pseuds/somethingmorecreative
Summary: Tonight, The Wicked Nightshade was filled with a vibrant crowd, rowdy, loud, and buzzing in excitement at what was to come.The Bonding was tomorrow, and New Altea was ready for it.Keith Kogane, on the other hand, was not.;;or, the mage lance x familiar keith au you didn't know you needed, written for my lovely maire
Relationships: Adam & Pidge | Katie Holt, Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Allura & Shiro (Voltron), Hunk & Romelle (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 80
Kudos: 623





	1. The Bar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maireeps](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maireeps/gifts).



> this fic was written for my lovely maire who is the best friend and writing partner I could ask for! thanks for reading all of my headcanons and fics, entertaining me with wonderful klance ideas, and for co-writing the best klance zombie apocalypse fic that exists with me. I love you so much, and I hope this fic is everything you wanted!
> 
> huge shout out to stephanie @dreamdreaded on tumblr for being an amazing beta and freaking out with me about this fic via Skype. everyone needs a beta who will call them out for being a mary-sue, and I've definitely found the best one. thanks, stephanie! this fic wouldn't be half as good without your help. 
> 
> finally, the fic will have three chapters, and I'll post on Wednesdays. between chapters, you can find me on tumblr @somethingmorecreative1 and on twitter @smorecreative. come say hi! let me know what you think about the fic, what your favorite part of the chapter is, and what you're looking forward to! 
> 
> stay safe, stay healthy, and take care of yourselves xoxo

Tonight, The Wicked Nightshade was filled with a vibrant crowd, rowdy, loud, and buzzing in excitement at what was to come.

The Bonding was tomorrow, and New Altea was ready for it.

Keith Kogane, on the other hand, was not.

He rolled his eyes as he shoved his way back through the crowd toward the table where Shiro and Adam were waiting on him. Despite his reservations about coming to the city this weekend, Shiro and Adam had convinced Keith to come join in on the fun. He’d objected at first, but when Shiro kept bugging him about it, kept asking him to give it one more try, one more year, he’d given in.

Because the thing was, the Bonding had been a pain in Keith Kogane’s ass for as long he could remember.

New Altea had been hosting the Bonding since its inception thousands of years ago. Mages and familiars would travel from across the continent to join the ceremony in the hopes of finding their match. During the ceremony, mages presented themselves and their magic to find their Bonded, their familiar. Familiars would present their own magic as an offer to the mage, and if the two magics were compatible, the two could be bonded as a pair.

The bond between a mage and a familiar was coveted more than anything else in the world. Bonds came in all shapes and sizes, but the important thing was to have one at all. It was crucial for a mage to bond with a familiar to amplify their magic. As centuries passed, the bond between mages and familiars grew no less important, but maybe more practical. Even after a bonding, familiars were free to continue their own lives and create their own families. It was the bond itself that was so important, so valued, among them.

It was rare for a bond to become more than that. It only happened between the most powerful mages and familiars.

Keith had been trying to outrun the Bonding for as long as he could remember. Every year since he was a kid, he came to the city either with Shiro or without to participate in the Bonding. He could still remember the first year he had tried; it’d been fun at first, but it had ended with him alone, no mages having matched up with him, everyone being somewhat hesitant around his magic.

He kept trying. Shiro offered support and heartfelt logic. He’d grip Keith’s shoulder and say, _It’s okay, little brother, they’re out there somewhere. They’ll find you. It’ll happen._

It never happened.

Keith kept returning for the Bonding, even long after he’d given up. It’d been eleven years, eleven ceremonies where Keith stood alone at the end, magic too jumpy, too _much_ to match up with a mage.

He was turning twenty-four this year. His first Bonding ceremony had been when he was just thirteen—younger than the average familiar, but his magic never seemed to play by the rules anyway. Most familiars reached the peak of their power before they were an adult and being bonded to a mage usually amplified their magic a bit but never by much.

Even when he was thirteen, his power had been overwhelming. People whispered about him then as they took pity on him for not bonding with someone. _When will he find his match? How long will he have to wait?_

As he got older and his powers grew and surpassed the power of familiars around the world, the whispers changed. Suddenly, it wasn’t pity or sadness on his behalf. Instead, it was fear. It was _I hope he never finds his mage._

After all, could you even imagine the strength and power behind the mage that could bond with Keith Kogane, the Fire-breathing Dire Wolf?

Despite it all, Keith kept coming back. Despite the whispers, despite the looks, the glances, the stares, and despite his weariness, Keith returned for the Bonding every year even though he knew it was pointless. He was desperate to turn away and never come back. In fact, most of the time he did. He rarely stayed in the city anymore, too overwhelmed with the attention his appearance drew from most people.

His magic was so powerful now it was almost out of control. It didn’t help that his shifter form—a fucking _dire wolf_ for god’s sake—was intimidating, possessive, territorial, and powerful as hell. And his fire magic on top of that?

Even Keith fell into the trap of not wanting to find his mage. He desperately longed for a bond with someone—with _anyone_ —but there were times where his subconscious whispered warnings to him. What kind of mage could bond with him? What would their magic be like? How powerful would they be to bond with him?

And how would it end?

The Bonding was supposed to be a time of celebration, life, love, and friendship. For Keith, it had been nothing but loneliness, grief, and pain. For everyone else in the city, the Bonding was a time to party. The week leading up to the magical festival was insane—there were parties every other block, people celebrating in the streets. New Altea was always a bright and vibrant city that proudly boasted and supported its magic users, but a normal day in the city paled in comparison to the days surrounding the Bonding.

Which is how Keith found himself and likely every other familiar in the crowded bar downtown, The Wicked Nightshade.

It was a tradition of theirs that started when Shiro was old enough to drink. He and Adam started coming to this bar because of Adam’s connection to the owner’s family, a mage friend of his from childhood. It was easily one of the more popular bars for familiars, especially the older crowd. Some mages and other magic users worked themselves into the throng of customers too, but usually only close to the ceremony. It was an unspoken rule that this bar hosted the most powerful and competent familiar customers, of their own accord of course. It was a nice atmosphere, Keith thought, and that was why he kept coming back. It was dark and a little dangerous, and there was something about it that always made Keith’s magic hum when he walked through the door.

Keith set the two drinks for Shiro and Adam down onto the table in front of them, settling on his own side of the booth they’d grabbed earlier. Shiro had his arm curled around Adam’s shoulder, and Adam was completely tucked into his chest, turned toward him with his back facing the rest of the crowd. They’d been out for a few hours already, and Keith was already wanting to call it quits and head back to Shiro’s apartment.

“You don’t have to stay out if you don’t want to,” Shiro said, breaking the silence between them and reading Keith’s mind. The bar was loud, but their booth was quieter, easier to hear each other.

Adam’s gaze was soft as it settled on Keith. He’d taken longer to find his mage too, so he understood Keith’s position better than Shiro, who’d been bonded on his first ceremony. Even though Adam’s power hadn’t been so overwhelming like Keith’s and he knew he would eventually find his mage, Adam still knew how it felt to wait on the bond.

Keith was still working on coming to terms with the fact that he’d probably be waiting forever.

“I’ll stay a little longer,” Keith shook his head.

“One more drink?” Adam asked, smiling a little.

He nodded.

“I’m glad you’re trying again,” Shiro repeated. When Keith had shown up at his apartment a few days ago out of nowhere, he’d thought Shiro would start crying. After last year, when Keith had been left alone at the end of the ceremony for the eleventh time, Keith swore up and down he’d never try again. Shiro had argued with him about it all year, and a few weeks ago, they’d gotten into one of the worst fights of their lives over it. Shiro told him he needed to keep trying, and Keith told him that it was a waste of fucking time.

Keith hadn’t known he was coming back at all. He’d been in his wolf form, and one minute he was in the Great Forest a thousand miles north of New Altea, and the next, he’d been climbing onto a bus and digging spare change out of his pocket to pay the fare to get to Shiro’s apartment.

“This is the last time,” Keith said, trying to forget about it. He’d felt _drawn_ here this year, and he wasn’t sure why. He knew how it was going to end. He’d be standing alone again by this time tomorrow.

Shiro nodded seriously.

They drank in silence. Around them, the crowd was rowdy and excited. Keith usually felt at home in the bar surrounded by other familiars, especially with Shiro and Adam, but today, he was on edge. Maybe it was knowing that the ceremony was tomorrow and that he subconsciously felt like this was his last chance.

Even though Keith only promised to stay for one more drink, he felt himself hesitate when he tipped back his pint and swallowed the last of his beer. Shiro glanced at him, probably expecting him to make an excuse and duck out, but instead, he waited, and Adam slipped out of the booth to grab the next round.

“Hey,” Shiro said, “you okay?”

Keith paused before admitting, “I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean?” his brother asked, frowning.

“I don’t know. I think this was a waste of time.”

Shiro hesitated, frown deepening. His voice was rough when he said, “Keith, they’re out there. They have to be.”

Keith uncurled his fist around the empty glass before it shattered and shook his head, “I don’t know, Shiro. It’s been so long.”

“I know,” Shiro’s voice was low, and his face was serious. “I can’t—I don’t understand. I just know you have to keep trying.”

“Why?” Keith asked bitterly. “Why should I bother? It’s obvious there’s nothing here for me. I don’t know why I keep coming back.”

“You _want_ there to be something. Someone.”

He growled, narrowing his eyes, “Of _course_ I want it. You were the one who taught me that we don’t always get what we want.”

Shiro was silent for a long moment. When Keith looked up at him, his face was sad, expression almost distraught, and Keith cursed himself for it. The Bonding was supposed to be a happy time. New Altea, for however much was happening in the world right now, was celebrating this week. _Shiro_ was celebrating this week.

Keith always felt like he ruined everything.

Instead of voicing this—because he couldn’t do that, not here, and not now—he reached across the table and took one of his brother’s hands, squeezing gently before letting go.

Shiro smiled a little then, but he still looked sad. Every year, Shiro was as tormented by Keith’s lack of bond and mage as he was himself. It was half of the reason he kept trying the damn ceremony, if he was admitting to everything. There was little else in the world that he hated more than disappointing Shiro.

“What will you do after the ceremony?”

Keith paused. When the ceremony inevitably fucked him over tomorrow, he’d disappear. Again. Just like he’d done for the past eleven years.

It’d be different this year though. After this year, he wasn’t coming back. It was all or nothing.

 _Nothing_ , Keith thought bitterly.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

Shiro sighed, and they fell into silence again, deferring to the loud roar of the crowd around them, the laughter, the friendship, the _bonds_ that were all throughout the room. Keith took a deep breath against it.

“Shiro! Keith!”

They looked up and over to the bar, where Adam was motioning them forward and shouting over the noise of the crowd. He was smiling as he waved, and when Keith looked further, he saw three cloaked mages entering the bar.

The first figure pulled their hood back, revealing a bouncy silver ponytail, and Keith rolled his eyes.

Shiro grinned suddenly and slid out of their booth; Keith followed.

Allura was already smiling when she turned to look at them, and she stepped forward as Shiro came closer, pushing up onto her tiptoes to press their foreheads together for a brief second, magic brushing around them from their bond.

Keith looked away.

“I didn’t think you were in the city yet,” Shiro said after they pulled back from each other.

“I wasn’t sure if I would make it in time,” Allura said, reaching for his hand and squeezing. “I’ve brought a surprise.”

“A surprise?” Shiro asked.

Adam set a hand on Keith’s shoulder, stepping up to his side and raising an eyebrow toward the other two figures, still cloaked. He said, “You better not have dragged Pidge out of bed for this, Allura.”

Said mage threw the hood of her dark green cloak back and glared at Adam, crossing her arms over her chest and saying, “You’re not the boss of me! I’m _your_ mage!”

Adam growled at her, but when Keith glanced his way, it was obvious the older familiar was fighting back a smile. He said, “It’s late, and you’re still underage.”

Pidge rolled her eyes but still ducked forward and slid past Allura and into Adam’s side, grabbing him for a hug. She looked up at him then, “It’s the Bonding. No one is paying attention to ages this week.”

“I am. You better not let me catch you with a drink in your hand.”

She huffed and shifted out of Adam’s arms and looked Keith over, smiling gently. Her voice was soft when she said, “Hey, Keith.”

Keith offered her a small smile. She was always so careful around him, and it had been a long time since they’d seen each other. Hell, it’d probably been a year since he’d seen any of his friends except for Shiro and Adam.

“Hey, Pidge,” he greeted easily.

“Keith!” the last cloaked figure behind Allura removed their hood, and Keith found Hunk grinning at him. The mage continued, “I heard you were up north. You should have stopped to say hi.”

Keith tried to fight back a sigh. Hunk and his familiar, Romelle, lived in a small village in the north close to the mountains, which bordered the tree line of the Great Forest. Keith had been relatively close to the small town, but that was months ago, and by the time he’d gotten over the disappointment of another failed ceremony, he’d already been hundreds of miles into the forest and beyond.

Now, he shrugged, “Next time.”

Hunk nodded to him, flashing him a thumbs up, and then, Allura was moving into Keith’s space, reaching for him and gripping his forearms.

“Hello, Keith,” she said warmly, eyes soft. “You’ve been worrying Shiro.”

He lifted an eyebrow, “I worry everyone. Don’t you know?”

“Keith,” Shiro warned, exasperated.

Allura laughed at his tone and tossed her arms around Keith’s neck; after a second, Keith returned her hug. She and Shiro had been bonded relatively early for their ages, when they were both barely teenagers, so she had become a constant figure in his life since then, a sister when he hadn’t had one before.

She spoke into his ear, so quietly that no one else could hear her, “I’ve missed you.”

Allura knew all about Keith’s struggle to find a mage, to forge a bond with someone. She’d been there through all of the failed ceremonies and the aftermath of them when Keith inevitably isolated himself for months. She was right about how much he worried Shiro, but it was something that he couldn’t help. Shiro had Allura _and_ Adam. He didn’t know what it was like to be alone, not like Keith did.

Finally, Keith nodded and murmured, “I missed you too, Allura.”

When she pulled back from him to turn and throw her arms around Adam’s neck, pulling him into a tight hug, Keith traded fist bumps with Hunk and Pidge and turned to find Shiro, bringing back two beers for Hunk and Allura and a soda for Pidge. Adam snickered at her disgruntled expression as Shiro pushed it into her hand.

“Where’s the surprise, Allura?” Shiro asked, eyes excited. They hadn’t been expecting Allura to return to the city until tomorrow. She had been out of the city for the past few weeks on an herb and material gathering trip for her uncle, Coran. Shiro had told Keith some of the details when he’d arrived in the city to find Allura gone, but honestly, he hadn’t paid much attention to the explanation, having been too focused on the looming ceremony.

“He should be arriving soon,” she replied.

Adam raised an eyebrow, “He?”

She glanced around the bar slowly, excitement shifting into hesitation, and her voice was low when she said, “I have a lot to tell you, but I’ve found a potential ally for our cause.”

The mood shifted. Shiro’s expression became serious, and Adam had all but frozen, hand snapping out to clasp Pidge’s cloak and pull her closer as if to protect her from just the words. Both Allura and Hunk were somber, jaws clenched.

“You weren’t on a gathering trip for Coran,” Keith guessed.

She shook her head once, “No. I wasn’t.”

Shiro’s jaw ticked as he nodded decisively. He gripped Allura’s shoulder and steered her back to their booth. The rest of them followed, crowding into the seats. Adam, Pidge, and Hunk took one side, and Keith slid onto the end of the seat beside Shiro and Allura, who was seated next to the wall in hopes of muffling her voice even more.

Once they were seated in their booth with the crowd humming around them, Allura leaned in. Her voice was quiet as she spoke, “Three weeks ago, Coran received word from a village in the East that there have been disappearances. Large numbers of people have gone missing from villages across the region, and after local investigation, no one has been found nor are there any leads for new information. These people have just vanished.”

“So, you went there without backup?” Shiro asked, frown deepening.

“There wasn’t time for me to tell you,” Allura admitted, turning to look at Shiro, apology clear in her eyes. “Coran has warned me that his office has been breached. Information was stolen, and his conversations have been watched. I knew that if I didn’t leave immediately I could be traced, perhaps followed. I’m sorry.”

Shiro clenched his jaw and reached out, grabbing her shoulder, “It was a good move. Your first priority is your own safety. What happened next?”

“I met up with Hunk and Romelle outside of the city, and we traveled toward the village. When we arrived, there were very few people in the village, and most of the remaining population was terrified.”

“What was happening?” Adam asked, voice low.

“One of the council members managed to tell us that a few strangers passed through town a few days before the first disappearance,” Allura explained. “The descriptions that we were given confirmed what we already suspected.”

“Lotor,” Shiro guessed darkly.

Allura nodded, “And his accomplices. They were spotted in the surrounding areas of the town and passed by it only days before the first disappearance. Now, more than half of the village has been taken with more disappearances happening every day.”

“Did you track Lotor?” Adam asked.

“Hunk and Romelle followed them at a distance while I stayed in town,” Allura said, glancing over to Hunk. “Coran warned me that I was too easily recognizable, so Hunk and Romelle tracked his generals and what they found was… troubling.”

“More than troubling,” Hunk started, voice and expression dark. “Romelle and I found a small campsite, a settlement, I guess. We looked around the small group of buildings and some equipment, but we couldn’t confirm that any of the villagers were at the site. So, we think that he’s moving them somewhere else.”

“To do what?” Shiro asked.

“This is the part that doesn’t make much sense,” Pidge interrupted, eyes wide under her round glasses. “Hunk sent me the pictures that he and Romelle managed to take, and some of the equipment that he’s using looks like he might be… trying to steal quintessence.”

Keith exchanged a confused look with Shiro. By the expressions on Allura, Pidge, and Hunk’s faces, it seemed more than serious, but Keith honestly had no idea what they were talking about.

When no one said anything, Keith leaned forward and asked, “What’s quintessence?”

“It’s basically your life force,” Pidge explained. “For mages and familiars, quintessence holds us to our magic. Without quintessence, magic dissolves.”

“So, what happens when you take someone’s quintessence?”

“You cannot survive without your quintessence,” Allura said. “Once it is lost or taken from you, you die.”

A long, heavy pause overtook the table. Around them, the crowd still roared in laughter, but at their table, the mood had shifted. As excited as they had been mere minutes ago, the threat of Lotor and his plan was so much that it overshadowed even the excitement from the festival and celebration of the Bonding.

Keith knew very little about the situation with Lotor. Shiro had explained some of it the last time Keith had called, but that had been months ago, and it was obvious that things were very different now.

After a moment, Allura continued, “We believe that Lotor is kidnapping magic-users and stealing their quintessence.”

“Why?” Adam’s voice was critical as he spoke. “What is Lotor planning to do with the quintessence?”

“We don’t know yet,” Pidge said, shaking her head. “Allura is going to talk to Coran after the festival ends.”

Keith turned to look at Allura, who was nodding.

“Coran and I have agreed that we will have to confront Lotor eventually, and to do that, we will need all the help, and all the allies, we can gather,” she said.

“And the person coming tonight?” Shiro raised an eyebrow.

Allura nodded again, “I’ve known of him for a few years now. He lives in a village that borders the ocean in the South.”

“Why is he coming here tonight if Coran said we have to wait until the Bonding is over?” Adam asked.

“He’s also coming for the Bonding tomorrow.”

Another moment of silence overtook their table.

“You’re considering an ally that doesn’t even have a familiar?” Shiro said.

She nodded, “His magic is… more powerful than any other mage I’ve ever met. He’s close to our ages, turning 24 later this year.”

“Why is he still unbonded?”

“He’s never participated in the Bonding before.”

“Why?” Shiro’s questioning was unrelentless. It was obvious from his tone that he didn’t trust this person, that maybe he was even doubting Allura’s judgement.

“I’m not sure,” Allura admitted. “He’s never told me.”

“Romelle and I went with Allura to meet him,” Hunk interrupted, trying to placate them. It was very rare for mages to be unbonded, especially mages with powerful magic. Powerful mages usually managed to bond with familiars almost immediately, so why was this one still unbonded? Hunk continued, “He was nice. I think he’d make a good ally for us. His magic is different than anyone else’s I’ve met before. Romelle is bringing him to the city tonight.”

“You left Romelle with him?” Adam asked, eyebrows high, voice concerned. “You just said he’s unbonded.”

“I know, but Romelle can take care of herself,” Hunk said. “Plus, he was nervous to come into the city by himself. He seems totally freaked out by the Bonding if you ask me.”

Allura nodded a little, “But, we need him on our side. His magic is too powerful, even without a Bond-mate. His power would tip the scale to our favor.”

“Assuming we need it at all,” Adam countered. “We don’t know what Lotor’s planning.”

“I have a feeling we’ll need all the help, and all the power, we can get,” Allura said darkly.

Another silent moment fell over the table, and when Keith looked back up to them, he realized that everyone was already studying him.

“What?” he asked, defensive.

“Keith,” Allura started, “you’re the most powerful familiar on the continent. If it comes to a fight, we’ll need you with us.”

Keith sighed, “I can’t promise you anything.”

“Can you stick around town at least?” Pidge asked, piping back into the conversation. “For a few days after the ceremony?”

He hesitated. He knew that a few days really wouldn’t matter but—he wasn’t sure he could do it. When this Bonding failed, when he was left alone again, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. Without a bond, he’d be alone, and Lotor’s nefarious plans would be the last thing he’d care about.

Finally, Keith shook his head, repeating. “I can’t promise you anything. I’ll get the next round.”

Before he stood up, Shiro caught his arm, and his brother’s eyes were wide when he looked down. He nodded once and said, “Whatever you have to do, Keith. We’re here either way.”

He nodded too, unable to speak. When Shiro let go of his arm, he turned away and headed for the bar.

Keith shouldered his way through the other familiars and mages at the bar, leaning against the heavy oak bar and waiting for the bartender to see him. The bartender nodded his way and slid one beer to him as Keith ordered the rest of the round for his table.

He sipped his beer at the bar as he waited, and oddly enough, the distance from their conversation helped settle his nerves. Keith wanted to do what he could to help Shiro and Allura, especially if they were facing dangerous enemies or even something larger. Keith’s magic was strong, easily the strongest of their group, and he knew that they would need his help if they were to confront Lotor. The problem was that Keith had put all of his focus and strength into hoping to find his Bond-mate tomorrow and when it didn’t happen… He wasn’t sure he’d be able to even keep a grip on his magic when the weight of the situation set in, when the realization that he’d never be Bonded happened.

The bar was even louder than his table had been, and oddly enough, it helped with Keith’s mood. He couldn’t promise that he would be able to stay in the city after the ceremony failed tomorrow, but he hoped that eventually, he’d be able to get his head back together and come back. He wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to accept that the universe expected him to be alone and unbonded, but he hoped that he could at least deal with it long enough to help Shiro and Allura.

Keith wanted a bond more than anything, but he knew that he would have to take what he could get, eventually. If Shiro, Allura, Adam, and the rest of their friends were all that he would ever get, then he’d have to make himself okay with it somehow. Someday.

The bartender slid a tray of drinks for their table toward Keith, and he nodded thankfully.

A sudden hush fell over the bar, the rowdy crowd silencing completely, as the door opened.

Keith turned to see a newcomer to the bar. The door closed behind the cloaked figure, and everyone in the bar silently watched them, waiting to see what was in store for them. It was obviously a mage; that much was clear from both the cloak and the deep wave of powerful magic that whispered through the bar at the mage’s entrance.

For a mage to be powerful enough that their power was so easily announced by just entering a room—it was almost unheard of today.

The figure took another step into the bar and pulled their hood back. As the material fell away and uncovered their face, Keith’s breath caught in his chest, and he froze in place.

Because the most beautiful man he’d ever seen was standing before him, just inside the door.

His eyes were the first thing that Keith noticed. They were bright blue, intense, deep, and heart wrenching even from this far away. Keith looked farther. The mage was tall, probably close to Keith’s own height, and he was lean, not bulky, with steady shoulders and long legs. His brown hair was swept in an artful wave over his forehead, and the sheer bone structure of his face was so alluring and nearly perfect that Keith almost wondered if it was a spell all on its own.

The blue, intense eyes settled on Keith a second later.

He wasn’t sure what he should have prepared himself for, but it wouldn’t have worked even if he’d tried. As soon as the mage met his gaze, it was—Keith didn’t know what to think, if he was being completely honest.

It felt like someone was reaching out toward him, _into him_ , grabbing his magic and _yanking._ He couldn’t remember ever feeling like this before, not since he was a teenager at least, completely unable to deal with his own magic and power. It was like he couldn’t control himself, couldn’t stop his magic from reacting just in the presence of this mage. His hands already felt like they were about to explode with flame, and he was afraid that smoke would billow from his mouth if he unlocked his jaw.

It was like this mage was pulling his magic out of him. It had never reacted to someone like this before. What the _fuck_ was this?

If the mage knew what was happening to Keith and his magic, he didn’t pay any mind to it. In fact, his gaze stayed calm and easy, settled on Keith, watching, waiting.

He curled his hands into fists, feeling his claws prick his palms. He clenched his jaw tighter, feeling the beginning of the transformation into his second form threatening to take over. His fangs had already elongated, canines sharp in the corners of his mouth.

This was fucking ridiculous. What was happening to him?

And why couldn’t he stop staring at this mage?

The rest of the bar was still silent, carefully watching the newly arrived mage. Thankfully, the crowd didn’t seem to know that Keith’s entire existence had been uprooted by the mage’s appearance.

Moments passed. The mage kept his eyes on Keith, eventually arching one brown eyebrow, but it was the only movement on his face, the only thing that gave away he was watching Keith as much as Keith was watching him.

Slow, uneasy murmurs picked up around the bar, and at the sound, the mage started forward. To Keith.

Keith _begged_ his magic to calm down. It didn’t seem to listen to him. In fact, it only got harder to control the closer he got. At this point, he was almost afraid his jacket and the rest of his clothes would go up in flames.

To make matters worse, the mage’s voice was like fucking _bells_ when he stopped in front of Keith and said, “Hi.”

Keith raised an eyebrow.

Now that the mage was in front of him, the strength and power of his magic was even more obvious. Generally, Keith wasn’t in tune with other familiars’ or mages’ magic. He often thought that was one of the problems that led to him not being able to bond with a mage, being unable to feel and connect with the magic they were offering.

This mage wasn’t even offering his magic, and yet Keith could still feel it. Could almost _taste it,_ even, because of how close he was.

It’d been a long time since he’d met someone with ice magic. It’d been even longer since he’d met someone with ice magic that hadn’t repulsed him on sight. When he did meet ice mages, he had a hard time even stomaching them because it was elementally unnatural. Fire and ice magic users were notoriously incompatible. It shouldn’t make any sense. Why was Keith feeling a connection to this mage’s magic? It shouldn’t _work._

This mage though—there was something about him. Keith wasn’t sure what.

“Hi,” Keith finally replied, a long moment later. His voice was too deep, almost a growl, in his chest.

The mage’s eyes twinkled at his voice, expressions flitting over his face so quickly that Keith couldn’t read them. He said, “I’ve never met anyone with fire magic before.”

“Probably for good reason. You wouldn’t want to get burned, would you?” Keith said, inwardly fighting to control his magic.

He hummed, looking Keith up and down, before he said, “Maybe I wouldn’t mind if it was _you_.”

Keith’s lip curled, fangs on display for the mage to see as he smirked, “Be careful what you ask for, mage.”

“Lance.”

Keith watched him.

The mage continued, “That’s my name. Lance Sanchez.”

Keith would willingly admit that he didn’t pay much attention to anything other than his own life and his friends, especially in the last few years, because he spent more and more time in his wolf form. But, that didn’t mean he was an idiot. Even he knew about the Sanchez family, the long line of mages in the South that boasted a powerful magical line, magics akin to health, water, and healing.

He’d never heard of a Sanchez mage that wielded ice magic.

Keith considered him for a minute, wondering what a Sanchez mage— _Lance—_ could possibly want with him tonight, on the eve of the Bonding.

“What do you want with me then, Lance Sanchez?”

“I was actually looking for someone else, but now you’ve caught my eye.”

Keith leaned forward, taking his weight off the bar behind him, and straightened to his full height, where he realized he was two inches taller than the mage in front of him. Something about the small height difference pleased Keith, deep down, and he tried to stamp out the feeling.

“Is that so?” Keith murmured the question dangerously. He focused his gaze on Lance now, and absently, he wondered if everyone else in the bar was watching them.

He couldn’t tell. The only thing he could focus on was Lance’s magic and how it was almost reaching out to him. They weren’t anywhere near touching each other, but it felt like they were already pressed up against one another, their magic brushing over each other’s in ways that Keith had never felt with anyone else before.

“What’s your name?” Lance asked.

“Keith,” he replied.

Lance’s voice on his name was almost too intense for him as he repeated it aloud. What was happening? What _was_ this?

“Can you help me find who I’m supposed to meet, Keith? It’s my first time in the city,” Lance’s eyes were too beautiful. Keith wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop staring at them.

Before, Keith had been too distracted by Lance and his sudden appearance in the bar to really put the pieces together of what was happening, but now, it was nothing short of obvious. Lance was the mage that Allura had been waiting on.

The one that was unbonded.

Keith schooled his expression as he said, “You’re looking for Allura.”

Lance’s eyes lit up with surprise, and he nodded, “Yeah! Is she here?”

“She is,” Keith jerked his head toward their table, where his friends were already watching them. The bar was still silent, just murmuring and muttering among the tables as the patrons stole glances their way.

Before they had to move toward their table and cross the floor of the bar, Shiro and Allura slid out of their side of the booth and started toward them, Adam, Hunk, and Pidge right behind them.

“Lance!” Allura said, smiling.

Lance shifted his attention from Keith and took a step back, turning toward Allura and smiling brightly, teeth gleaming. Keith tried not to stare too much.

“Hey, Allura,” Lance greeted, opening his arms for a hug as Allura ducked into his chest.

“How was your journey?” she asked as she pulled away from him.

Lance grinned, “It was fine. Shorter than I expected, honestly.”

Hunk shoved forward to the front of the group, holding his hand and arm out for Lance to clasp as he said, “Hey, man, it’s good to see you again! Romelle do okay getting you here?”

“Yeah, she was really helpful. I definitely would have gotten lost without her,” Lance laughed, motioning back to the door. “She dropped me off here and asked me to tell you that she would catch up with you later?”

Hunk nodded and clapped Lance on the shoulder, “Yeah, that’s great! I’m glad she helped you get here.”

“Thanks,” Lance smiled again, and his expression was so sincere and genuine it almost hurt Keith’s heart.

Before there was a heavy gap in their conversation, Allura smiled again and said, “Lance! These are our other friends we mentioned. This is Adam and Pidge, and this is my familiar, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled too, nodding to Lance and holding out a hand for him, “Hey, Lance, it’s good to meet you.”

“You too,” Lance said.

“And it looks like you’ve met Keith,” Allura motioned toward Keith.

Lance looked back at him, expression a cross between a smile and smirk, “Yeah. I met Keith.”

Keith didn’t reply. He wasn’t sure how to answer anyway.

“Let’s sit down,” Adam suggested, looking around the room pointedly. The people that were still staring at them jerked their gazes away, and the conversations from before picked up around the bar again.

Shiro and Adam herded them back to their booth, and they all settled on the two sides, Lance sitting on the opposite side of the booth from Keith’s spot next to Shiro and Allura.

Once they were settled back in their booth, the bartender dropped their tray of drinks onto the table that Keith had forgotten earlier. Conversations around the bar picked back up, and soon enough, it was as loud as it had been before Lance’s arrival.

“So, Lance,” Adam started, leaning forward a bit, “how do you like the city so far?”

Lance smiled easily, eyes darting to Keith’s before flitting away, “It’s a lot… bigger than I expected. And louder. Our village at home is nothing like this.”

“Allura said that this was your first ceremony,” Pidge said, eyes alight with interest. She was a handful of years younger than them, just below the drinking age now.

“It is,” Lance said, ducking his head a bit, like he was shy.

“Was a familiar something you didn’t want?” Shiro asked.

For the first time, Lance’s smile faded, and he frowned, “I’ve always wanted a familiar. My magic has caused… some problems for me and my family. No one expected my magic to be so volatile. My parents begged me not to go to the ceremony because… Well, honestly, they were just really afraid that it would be too much.”

Everyone around the table was deathly silent and still. Keith wasn’t sure he was breathing. He didn’t want to think about it at all. It was stupidly obvious. Lance was a powerful mage, and Keith’s magic had already reacted to him the way that it had never managed to react to any other mage before.

He wasn’t stupid. He knew what it meant.

If he was actually compatible with Lance, potentially able to be bonded to him, then that meant it could happen in the Bonding tomorrow.

It wouldn’t though. There was no way that the universe would let Keith have someone like Lance. He might be compatible with Lance, but it was impossible. Tomorrow in the ceremony, Lance would be offered so many different familiars with powers and lives much better than Keith’s.

Who would want to be bonded with someone who had failed as much as he had?

“Why?” Shiro asked, breaking Keith’s thoughts.

Lance blinked at Shiro’s question, and Keith was fucking _mystified_ by the color of his eyes. He said, “They were afraid that someone would take advantage of my magic, and honestly, so was I. It’s—all of my siblings are bonded, so it hasn’t been easy.”

A moment of silence overtook the table, and then Shiro cleared his throat and nudged Keith. He said, “Keith can relate.”

Lance’s eyes snapped to Keith’s, “You’re not bonded?”

Keith shook his head, “No.”

“Why?”

He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. It wasn’t like this was personal information, so he wasn’t sure why this conversation with Lance felt so important. Everyone in New Altea—hell, everyone that knew of him and his magic—was aware that he was unbonded.

So, why did he care if Lance knew?

Finally, he said, “Volatile is probably a good way to describe my magic too.”

Lance’s frown deepened, and he leaned back from the table too, mirroring Keith’s body language. He said, “Your magic doesn’t seem volatile. Just—a lot.”

Keith’s lip curled into a bitter smile, fangs easily on display, as he said, “Too much then. I have eleven failed ceremonies under my belt. Tomorrow will be twelve, and it’ll be the last one.”

“Why?” Lance asked again, voice casual, but oddly enough, Keith could see something like desperation flickering in his eyes.

“I guess I’m just like you.”

“How?”

Keith stared at him, not letting his eyes drop away from Lance’s gaze as he said, “Maybe I’m afraid too.”

Silence took the table again as Lance watched him. He didn’t reply, but his eyes were blisteringly blue, somehow both cold and warm at the same time.

After another long moment, it became clear that neither of them planned on saying anything else. In the empty space, Allura cleared her throat and asked, “I know you’ve traveled a long way, Lance, and I don’t mean to pry, but have you made a decision about what I asked?”

Lance finally looked away from Keith and over to Allura. His demeanor seemed to shift again, and Keith couldn’t believe how quickly he shuffled through different emotions. Now, he was hesitant, expression pulled back carefully.

Keith wondered if they would hear the answer that Allura was looking for. 

“I don’t know,” Lance admitted. “I know my magic is… I know I could probably help you, and I want to. It’s just—the Bonding is tomorrow.”

There was hesitance in Lance’s voice as well. Allura reached across the table and took one of his hands, squeezing reassuringly.

Keith looked away.

“That’s alright,” she said, and if Keith hadn’t known her so well, he wouldn’t have been able to guess that there was disappointment in her voice. She continued, “I hope that you will think about it more once the Bonding is over.”

Lance smiled again, face blooming with it, and said, “Of course, Allura. I promise I’ll let you know.”

“That’s all we can ask for,” Shiro said, smiling a bit.

The crowd in the bar was louder and rowdier than before. The door was constantly swinging open, people hustling in and out. As the night progressed, more people would fill the streets to celebrate the Bonding. By now, they were probably full, and people would celebrate until dawn, and even after, all the way until the beginning of the ceremony tomorrow night.

“Can we go yet?” Pidge asked, bouncing in her seat excitedly, causing Adam to roll his eyes and chuckle. “Lotor can wait. The festival is tonight!”

Allura laughed, the rest of the disappointment instantly vanishing from her face. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically, reaching for Shiro’s shoulder and giving him a shove. Hunk and Pidge cheered excitedly, and they all slid out of the booth, Lance blinking in surprise at the rest of them.

“Lance, you’re celebrating with us tonight, right?”

“I hope so!” he said, laughing and reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “I don’t know anyone else in the city, so I hope I can stick with you guys.”

Hunk laughed loudly and threw an arm around Lance’s shoulders, tugging him close, “Yeah, man, of course! We’ll show you everything! It’s going to be great! Oh, man, you’ll love—”

As everyone made their way toward the door, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge kept chatting about the festival, filling Lance in on everything that would happen tonight and tomorrow. Lance was laughing and smiling and—it made something in Keith’s chest, the heavy feeling he always carried before the Bonding, seem lighter and less horrific. Looking at him was overwhelming, and Keith might not have been stupid enough to pretend not to know why, but he was stupid enough to completely ignore it.

Adam and Allura followed the others toward the door, chatting as they made their way through the crowd of tables and bar goers.

“Keith, you coming?”

He startled at the question, and when he looked back, Shiro was in front of him, watching him, one eyebrow raised. His expression was careful, and he was looking at Keith like he was afraid to hear the answer, just like he had been every year on this same night in this same place.

It was a question Keith had heard every night for the last few years. New Altea’s Bonding Festival was legendary. Shiro, Adam, Allura, and the others all usually stayed out until dawn enjoying the warm and exciting time throughout the city that was brimming with light and magic that surrounded the ceremony.

Keith never went with them. Instead, he’d wander off on his own, and after a few hours, he always ended up down at the rocky shore where New Altea bordered the ocean. It was always quiet and dark, and there, where no one could see him, Keith would kneel in the gravel and pray to whatever deity was listening. He asked for the same thing every year without fail.

No matter how hard he prayed or how long he knelt, his prayers were never answered.

But tonight, Keith took another long look at Lance and decided that he didn’t care. He didn’t give one fuck about the ceremony tomorrow, not if it meant he could spend tonight with this mage.

Even if tonight was all he got—because there was no way Lance was walking away from the Bonding tomorrow without a familiar—then it’d be worth it.

The gods obviously never listened to him anyway.

“Yeah,” Keith replied, looking back to Shiro and nodding. “I’m coming.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that his friends all paused once they reached the door, turning to look at him and Shiro.

Shiro smiled excitedly, “You will?”

Keith smirked, trying his best not to look over to Lance and give himself away. There was absolutely no chance that Shiro didn’t see through him, that he didn’t know exactly why Keith was agreeing this year, but he didn’t care. By this time tomorrow, once the Bonding was over, Lance would be bonded to someone else, and Keith would be alone.

He might as well enjoy the mage’s presence while he could. The universe would fuck him over later anyway.

;;

The streets of New Altea were brimming with fun and excitement. Colorful, vibrant lights replaced the usual tungsten streetlamps, and booths, games, and food and beverage stands were set up everywhere. Laughter and conversation flooded the streets, and the atmosphere was easy, excited, and happy.

Keith felt it as soon as they stepped out of The Wicked Nightshade, and for the first time in years, he didn’t hate the sight or sound of it all. Instead, he felt—stupidly and ridiculously hopeful.

He snuck a glance toward the mage responsible for it. Lance was still holding onto Hunk’s arms, eyes wide, mouth pulled up into a large grin as he looked over the festival unfolding in front of them.

Shiro brushed a hand over Keith’s shoulder, and when he looked up at his brother, Shiro’s gaze was soft and comforting. For once, Keith didn’t pull away.

Their group sauntered down the street. Adam and Shiro were holding hands, with Pidge and Allura walking on either side of them, Allura holding onto Shiro’s free arm too, hand tucked into his elbow. Pidge was chatting with Hunk excitedly about a new project they were planning, and then, Romelle met them, the group exchanging hugs with her before she settled at Hunk’s side.

Absently, Keith remembered why he always avoided going out with his friends in a group. It was only natural for them to pair off with their bonded, and then, even if Keith was just with Shiro and Adam, that was almost worse sometimes. Keith hated he felt that way—hated the jealousy and guilt that ate him up at the sight of all of them together, paired off with each other and happy. It was always a reminder of the thing Keith was chasing, the bond that he would never get with someone else.

But tonight, as everyone subconsciously paired off, Lance ended up at Keith’s side, close enough that Keith could feel the chill from his magic.

Now that they were outside, Keith got an even better look at Lance. He’d opened up his cloak, and the deep blue material was flowing behind him gently as they walked, letting Keith see the rest of him. Lance was all long, lean limbs. He was wearing a pair of dark, tight jeans with brown boots. His light blue, long sleeve shirt looked nearly as soft as the stylish scarf that was bunched around his neck and across his left shoulder.

He looked nice. Really nice.

“I didn’t know the city would be like this,” Lance said suddenly, either not realizing Keith had been staring at him or politely ignoring it.

“Like what?” Keith asked, clearing his throat. His voice felt too deep.

“Like… so friendly? And fun?”

Keith snorted, “It’s only like this during Festival Week.”

Lance looked at him in surprise, “Oh. Do you live in the city then?”

“Sometimes.”

“How do you live somewhere sometimes?”

“When I’m in the city, I usually stay with Shiro and Adam,” Keith admitted. “I guess you could say I’m not here that often.”

“Only for the ceremony?”

Keith shrugged, ducking past a booth with large balloon dragons. It looked like Hunk and Romelle were trying to convince Pidge to buy one for them to share. Eventually, he nodded.

“Where do you go the rest of the time?” Lance asked, eyes bouncing off the booths around them. When his gaze settled on a booth with handmade jewelry a few yards in front of them, Keith led the way toward it.

“A little bit of everywhere,” Keith said, guiding Lance to the booth. They looked over the selection, the older booth owner waving at them and offering prices from their seat at the back of the tent.

Lance’s gaze settled on a red, threaded bracelet. He picked it up carefully, turning it over in his hand a few times, running his fingers over the threaded pattern. It was only about an inch wide, but the intricate pattern had to have been woven with magic. The sharp dips and turns of the lines almost looked like jagged edges of snowflakes or icicles, even though the bracelet was mostly red with other sharp colors added to the design. It glimmered underneath the booth lights, and Lance ran his thumb over the pattern again, almost reverently.

Before Keith could stop his impulse and consider what it might mean, he dug a few coins out of his pocket and tossed it to the booth owner, who tipped their head in acknowledgement and waved them off after snatching the coin out of the air.

Lance was staring at him, head tilted back just the slightest bit to accommodate their height difference.

“What?” Keith asked, gruff.

A smile overtook Lance’s face all at once, and Keith almost _swore_ that he was suddenly looking at the sun. Seriously, who smiled like that?

Lance held the bracelet out, still grinning, “Can you help me put it on?”

Keith felt himself flush and prayed it wasn’t as obvious as it felt. Carefully, he took the bracelet from Lance’s hands and waited as Lance pushed his sleeve up and held out his right wrist. The pattern itself was vaguely familiar, Keith thought, as he looked down at it. It felt like he’d seen it somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember where.

When Keith’s fingertips brushed Lance’s skin, touching him for the first time, he felt his magic sway, like it was trying to reach out to the mage in front of him.

Keith carefully and quickly tied the bracelet onto Lance’s wrist, and when he was finished, Lance admired the bracelet for a long moment before looking up at him with those agonizingly blue eyes and a gorgeous smile.

 _Fuck,_ Keith thought.

“Thank you, Keith,” Lance said, smiling at him.

Keith cleared his throat again, “You’re welcome.”

Their group caught up to them then, stopping to look at the booth behind them, talking about how nice the jewelry was, and even though they were loud and laughing, Lance didn’t take his eyes off Keith. Instead, he watched him for what felt like a long, long moment.

He stepped to Keith’s side and reached for his arm, tucking his hand into Keith’s elbow, fingers splayed over Keith’s leather jacket. He looked up to Keith then, who was already staring down at him, and asked, “Is this okay?”

Keith’s heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. Even through his jacket, Keith could feel the chill in Lance’s hand. Wordlessly, he nodded.

Lance’s smile softened as he watched Keith, and he took another small step closer, nearly tucking himself into Keith’s side. Even as they moved past the booth and continued down the street with their friends, Lance stayed at his side, hand tucked into his elbow.


	2. The Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith pushed back the lump in his throat and tried to focus on Lance in front of him instead of the rising fear, dread, and desperation threatening to punch out of his chest. Hesitantly, carefully, he offered, “I’m sure you’ll find someone tomorrow.” 
> 
> It made him pause, and after a long, long moment, Lance finally smiled, small, careful, and soft, “I bet you will too, Keith.” 
> 
> I don’t want them unless it’s you, he thought suddenly, thankfully managing to clamp his teeth together and keep it from spilling from his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! Here's the second chapter of this fic! I'll post the final chapter next Wednesday. Thanks for all the great comments so far! Keep them coming! Let me know what you like about the fic, what your favorite scene is, and what you're hoping to see happen later. 
> 
> Of course, this fic is a gift to my lovely maire for being an amazing friend and writing partner. I also wanna thank stephanie again for being a great beta and putting up with all my nonsense RE this fic and life. y'all are great and I love you so much!
> 
> Between chapters, you can find me on tumblr @somethingmorecreative1 and on twitter @smorecreative. Come say hi!
> 
> Stay safe, stay healthy, and take care of yourselves xoxo

The festival was better than Keith could remember it being in the last twelve years, which, of course, might have been because of the company.

Lance stayed at Keith’s side, holding onto his arm tightly, as they walked down the streets of the city and explored different booths and other activities that the festival offered. They lingered at the back of the group, stopping for drinks or food or to check out some of the booths selling merchandise. Lance was smiling and laughing along with their friends, engaging Keith in conversation, and pressing close to his side.

It made Keith’s free hand curl into a fist at how much he wanted it to be like this all the time.

His friends kept glancing back at him, Shiro, Adam, and Allura all taking turns watching and giving him easy smiles when Lance wasn’t looking. Not even an hour ago, Keith would have been pissed as hell about it, thinking that they were pitying him, but now, it was obvious that they were happy and excited for him, definitely glad to see him connecting with someone. For however temporary it was. After all, it wasn’t like Lance was bonded to him. Tomorrow, Lance would be bonded with a familiar, and there was no way it would be Keith.

But, for tonight, he could sure as hell pretend.

The night was beautiful and clear, stars twinkling above the city. Lance stayed close to him, and the longer they spent together, the harder it was to ignore the way their magic reacted to one another, pushing and pulling at each other’s powers playfully, almost like they couldn’t even help it because it just felt so _right._

To Keith, at least.

Their group stopped at another booth and grabbed a round of beers as they carried on through the streets. The more time they spent next to each other, the warmer Keith felt and the louder Lance’s laugh got. It was fucking addicting, if Keith was being completely honest. He wanted this feeling every single day.

They turned the corner of the street and were greeted with loud, jeering laughter. Ahead of them, there was a large tent with an even larger crowd surrounding it. Glancing over them, it was easy to tell that most of the crowd was exclusively familiars, and in the center of their tent, a tall table hosted two familiars who were arm wrestling each other to the soundtrack of the crowd’s cheers.

Lance nudged his shoulder, and when Keith looked down at him, it was obvious that the mage was fighting back a smile. He said, “You should go try.”

“Go try what?”

“Arm wrestling.”

Keith quirked an eyebrow and looked up to the crowded set up where familiars and mages were competing and arm wrestling. The crowd was large, both in number and size; most familiars that were gathered around the table were huge, big, buff, and somewhat terrifying to the normal eye. 

“Which one?” Keith asked.

Lance looked surprised, then delighted. He hummed thoughtfully as he looked over the crowd in front of them, and then finally, he nodded and said, “That one.”

Keith snorted.

“Think you can’t do it?” Lance bit his lip playfully, but it was too late to stop the smile that was already curving his lips upward.

“Please,” Keith said, rolling his eyes. “What will you give me when I win?”

“Hmm,” Lance hummed again, narrowing his blue eyes, “I guess you’ll have to find out after.”

Keith nodded once and started forward, suppressing a shiver when Lance’s hand slid down his forearm from his elbow as he walked away.

He walked straight toward the crowd of familiars to Lance’s target. To his credit, Lance had picked the largest and fiercest looking familiar of the bunch. The familiar was huge and hulking, easily dwarfing both Keith and the other familiars in the area. The familiar’s arms were bursting with muscle mass, and they were easily two whole heads taller than Keith. As Keith got closer, their scent became clearer, and Keith had met plenty of familiars over the course of his life to recognize a bear shifter when he saw one. The familiar crossed her arms over her broad chest and smirked down at him, though there was a flash of interest in her eyes that told Keith she must have recognized him.

“What’s a puppy doing out at this time of night on the eve of the Bonding?” she laughed when he got close enough, the crowd of familiars behind her echoing the sound.

Keith kept his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket. He nodded his head toward the table and said, “I need to arm wrestle you. The mage I’m with seems to think I won’t beat you.”

Another flash of interest crossed her dark gaze, and the bear stared down at him. She raised an eyebrow and said, “They’ve always said you were an arrogant son of a bitch. I won’t let you win.”

Keith smirked, “You won’t have to.”

The bear laughed and led the way over to the arm wrestling table, physically clearing the way for them and knocking the two jaguar shifters out of the way where they were at the table themselves. The bear familiar made a big show of riling the crowd up, and people huddled in around them tightly to watch in anticipation. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith could see his friends all gathered, excitedly cheering along with the rest of the crowd of familiars and mages.

A referee stepped up to their sides, announcing the rules, which was that magic couldn’t be used, only brute strength, and the first familiar to get the other’s hand down to the table won the match.

Keith nodded and set his elbow on the table, offering his hand to the bear shifter.

She smirked as she took Keith’s hand, which was at least twice the size of his own, and Keith bared his fangs at her, all in good nature of course. Lance had asked for a show, and Keith would be sure to give him one.

“Wrestle!” the referee hollered, and the crowd started shouting.

Keith braced against the onslaught of strength from the bear, and he was glad he did because she was strong. She was pushing hard against him, and Keith fought to keep his arm level as she used all her strength to push his hand over on the table.

He let her move his arm a bit, just for the show, and the crowd jumped at the small movement, thinking that Keith was about to get his ass handed to him.

After another few seconds, he glanced up at the bear shifter, caught her gaze, and smirked.

He put all his strength into the motion when he shoved against her arm and slammed her hand down onto the table in one go.

The crowd roared, and the bear shifter let go of his arm, laughing loudly and excitedly even in defeat. To the side, Keith could hear his friends cheering too, and it made him laugh.

“Another match!” someone from the crowd crowed over the noise.

Keith shrugged, “Sure.”

Familiar after familiar tried to beat him then. After a while, he lost count of how many familiars and shifters challenged him to arm wrestle them, but time and time again, he slammed their hands down onto the table. After each victory, Keith sent Lance another smirk, and he desperately hoped that each additional victory was adding onto whatever reward Lance was planning on giving him.

The bear shifter he’d originally challenged finally hollered, “Get out of here, wolf! You’re making us all look bad!”

Keith laughed, flashing his fangs again, and nodding his thanks to the rest of the crowd as he sauntered back over to his friends.

Shiro tossed an arm around his shoulders, already laughing at his antics, face flushed from all the alcohol he’d already had. The rest of their group was pretty much in the same position, and as they continued down the street in search of their next form of entertainment, they all congratulated Keith on his victories, Pidge and Hunk even reenacting some of the funnier matches and reactions from the familiars Keith had beaten.

He and Lance hung at the back of the group, and when Lance tucked his hand back into Keith’s elbow, he smirked down at him and said, “So, what’d I win?”

Lance smiled, mischievous, “Why don’t you wait until the end of the night to collect?”

Keith grinned right back, “Okay.”

;;

“What flavor are you getting?”

Lance’s question jerked him out of the trance, and Keith shook himself. He shrugged, “Vanilla.”

Lance grinned, “You’re boring.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but the gesture was playful, and he went right back to staring when Lance asked the mage at the counter about their favorite flavor.

They’d stopped to get a snack after Pidge and Hunk started grumbling that they were getting hungry. The two other mages had run off to one of the bigger booths that sold the traditional deep fried and sugary sweets most people wanted at the festival. Lance hadn’t been too hungry, but his eyes strayed to an ice cream booth strung with bright fairy lights and hundreds of odd flavors.

The twinkling lights were doing beautiful things to the way that Lance looked. Keith couldn’t help but stare.

He snapped out of it again when Lance handed him an ice cream cone with two scoops of vanilla. He handed the mage on the other side of the counter some coins before Keith could argue with him about, and the mage thanked him as she handed him an ice cream cone that was blue and topped with green sprinkles.

Keith blinked at it.

Lance laughed at his expression, “You’re one to talk, Mr. Vanilla.”

“At least I know mine is good,” he argued. “What is that?”

Lance hooked his arm through Keith’s again and started walking back in the direction of where their group was waiting for Hunk and Pidge to get their food. He licked the ice cream cone, and Keith _really_ tried not to stare.

“Seaweed Delight!” he grinned.

“Gross.”

“It’s good! It tastes like pineapple,” Lance explained. “It reminded me of home.”

At that, Keith paused and recalled, “Allura said you grew up in a village next to the ocean.”

Lance smiled, bright, “Yeah, I did. My family has always lived there. It’s nice. I miss the ocean. Well, the ocean and my family, obviously.”

“What are they like?”

It seemed like Keith’s question caught him off guard. Lance turned to look at him, expression blank, like he’d never had anyone ask him that before. Keith licked his ice cream cone and waited for him to reply.

Eventually, Lance smiled again and said, “They’re great! I have four older siblings—well, technically they’re my half siblings. Mom got remarried when she met my dad. I have a niece and nephew and another one on the way already. My two brothers are married already, so I have two sisters-in-law and—”

Lance talked for a while, only interrupting himself to eat the rest of his ice cream. Keith finished his cone while Lance was talking, content to listen, as they waited on the rest of their group.

“And of course, everyone has familiars. Well, everyone except my dad.”

“Your father doesn’t have a familiar?” Keith asked, frowning.

Lance shook his head, unbothered and focused on his ice cream, “He’s a non-magic.”

Keith blinked, surprised. Non-magic people were rare, these days. While there had been a lot more of them centuries ago, when mages and familiars started mingling and marrying non-magic people, magical lines seemed to explode, and through the years, being born with magic was more common than not. It was almost unheard of for there to be non-magic people now.

“Really?”

“You seem surprised.”

Keith nodded, “Well, yeah. Where does your magic come from then?”

“My mom’s line.”

Keith didn’t reply but—that was insane. He would have _never_ guessed that all of Lance’s magic and power came solely from one line, even if he was a Sanchez.

It obviously didn’t matter. Lance was standing right in front of him.

“Is that weird?” Lance asked, frowning.

“Of course not,” Keith said automatically. “Your magic is so—it’s hard to believe it comes from one line.”

Lance nodded, and he seemed almost sad, maybe a little disappointed all of a sudden. Keith couldn’t help but think he said something wrong.

“What is it?” he asked, forcing his voice to be soft.

Lance’s hand curled tighter around his elbow as he shrugged, “I know my magic is confusing. I’m grateful for it, obviously, but it’s also just…”

After a long moment when Lance didn’t continue, Keith said, “What?”

He shrugged, eyes downcast.

Keith couldn’t stand seeing him like this. He’d only known Lance for a few hours now, but Lance was meant to be smiling and laughing. He was so _bright_ , and the sad, haunted look in his eyes made Keith’s hands shake.

He’d seen that look in the mirror plenty of times before.

“What is it?” he asked again, gruff. “Tell me.”

“Everyone always told me it was weird,” Lance admitted, and Keith’s heart _sank._ “Even my siblings and their familiars were always wary of me because of it. I mean, they love me and so do my parents, but it’s—been hard, I guess.”

Keith clenched his jaw.

“And then, they wouldn’t let me come to the ceremony for so long, which I know they were trying to protect me until I learned how to use my magic, but everyone else has their familiar, and I don’t,” Lance continued, looking away.

The longing and sadness in Lance’s voice threatened to break Keith. He hated this. He absolutely _despised_ the fact that he knew this feeling, the one that Keith fought so hard at every step in his life, through every failed ceremony.

“It’s weird,” Lance’s voice dipped lower, “being the only one in my family who’s unbonded.”

The festival was loud and bright around them, but all Keith could focus on was how sad and alone Lance looked.

“I know how you feel.”

Lance’s gaze snapped to his at the admission, and Keith looked back at him honestly, solidly. His magic tingled under his skin.

“You do?” his voice shook as he asked the question.

Keith held Lance’s gaze evenly, “Yes.”

His bottom lip trembled once, and Keith was suddenly horrified that he would start crying. Thankfully, before Keith had to figure out what to do, Lance bit back his tears and nodded. He said, “I can’t stand being alone anymore.”

Keith pushed back the lump in his throat and tried to focus on Lance in front of him instead of the rising fear, dread, and desperation threatening to punch out of his chest. Hesitantly, carefully, he offered, “I’m sure you’ll find someone tomorrow.”

It made him pause, and after a long, long moment, Lance finally smiled, small, careful, and soft, “I bet you will too, Keith.”

_I don’t want them unless it’s you_ , he thought suddenly, thankfully managing to clamp his teeth together and keep it from spilling from his lips.

In the silence that followed their conversation, Lance stepped even closer to Keith, pressing their sides together, as he finished his ice cream. The rest of their group made their way over to them finally, passing around armfuls of festival snacks that Hunk and Pidge had ordered. It made Lance laugh, which made Keith smile, and it was a mess.

This was the best thing to ever happen to him.

Lance seemed to leave behind the worry and sadness as they walked. He joked with Hunk and Pidge and talked with Allura, and he never let go of Keith’s arm. Keith couldn’t keep his eyes off him.

The streets became more crowded and louder, and they followed the throng of magic users in front of them over to the next street, where the second half of the festival started. Since New Altea started hosting the festival in honor of the ceremony, there had been complaints and concerns that some mages and familiars took the celebration too far, that the festival was a time for everyone, no matter the age. Even still, some magic users pushed the envelope of what was considered appropriate, and the city started sectioning off the festival to create an age friendly section in one half of the city, while the other was age monitored and only welcomed people over the age of sixteen.

It was where they were headed now.

The age monitored section, exclusively for older magic users, was always more entertaining in Keith’s opinion. The few times he’d attended the festival before heading off on his own were much more enjoyable in this section of the city. There would be fights among mages and familiars, plenty of drinking, and darker and more challenging activities.

If nothing else, it was fun to walk through the streets alone. Tonight, he imagined it’d be much better with his friends and Lance.

Lance’s hand curled tighter around his elbow as they waded through the gate, security familiars checking ages. Adam and Pidge got stopped, and Keith snorted as Pidge pulled out her ID in a huff, brandishing it toward the familiar’s face with a sharp, “I’m nineteen!”

“Sorry,” Adam apologized for her, grabbing her by the cloak and dragging her forward when the familiar waved them through. The rest of their group stopped to wait on them once they were inside the gate.

There was a distant roar, what sounded like a large crowd cheering, and Hunk grinned, grabbing Romelle’s hand and shouting, “Let’s check the fights first!”

“Good idea!” Pidge echoed, wiggling out of Adam’s grip and following them.

Allura was already laughing, trailing behind them as well, and Adam huffed once, sliding up to Shiro’s side and taking his hand. Shiro nodded to Keith, grinning.

“Where are we going?” Lance asked, and when Keith looked over at him, his eyes were wide, flitting over the large crowd of people, the booths, the lights, everything. He looked a little overwhelmed, so Keith tugged him a bit closer and pressed into his side tighter. This was Lance’s first festival, after all. It was a lot to experience.

“This part of the festival is only for people over sixteen,” Keith explained, following Shiro and the rest of their friends, but he kept enough space between them so that he could have a small moment with just Lance, a bit selfishly, maybe.

“Why?”

Keith grinned, “You’ll find out when we get to the fights.”

Lance rolled his eyes, but he was smiling and holding onto Keith tightly as they made their way down the street after their friends.

The closer they got, the louder the roar of the crowd became. It was intense, Keith knew, and he carefully pulled his arm away from Lance’s only to slip it around his waist and haul him closer, narrowly avoiding bumping into a group of mages standing in front of a booth and grabbing drinks.

Lance huffed a laugh, leaning in even more to Keith, winding his own arm around Keith’s waist too. He said, “There are so many people here. It’s weird.”

“It’s not like this in your village?” Keith asked, looking over to Lance and trying to memorize the way his arm felt around his waist.

He shook his head, “No. There’s way less people there. This is crazy.”

“You never left it?” Keith asked. “At all?”

Lance shrugged, “Not for long. I’ve traveled a bit, but nowhere as big as New Altea and usually only to help my mom out. They still didn’t want me to come this year, honestly, but I finally talked them into it, especially after Allura told us about—well, what we were talking about earlier at the bar.”

“Yeah?” It was smart of Lance to avoid mentioning Lotor’s name here in the middle of the streets where anyone could hear them. Keith was glad that Lance seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation.

“I think I want to help,” Lance admitted, finally turning his gaze to Keith.

“You do?”

He nodded, “Aren’t you going to?”

“Maybe,” Keith felt unsure even as he said it. Then, for some damn reason, probably because he couldn’t stop talking to Lance, “Depending on the Bonding tomorrow.”

Lance didn’t reply for a long moment. Ahead of them, Romelle, Allura, and Hunk were laughing loudly about something, and Pidge had hopped onto Adam’s back, forcing him to carry her in a piggyback ride. Shiro was grinning, and the sight of them made Keith’s heart ache more. He’d have to figure out a way to help them if they did have to face Lotor. Somehow, he’d have to drag himself out of his grief about the results of the Bonding to fight with them.

“It’s going to work out for both of us,” Lance said, and his tone was suddenly fierce, blue eyes blazing as he met Keith’s gaze. “I know it will.”

Keith wasn’t sure how to reply, but the ferocity that Lance replied with gave him some small amount of hope. Plus, Lance was still in front of him right now. Even if things didn’t work out, there wasn’t any reason to waste tonight with bitter feelings about the Bonding, not when Lance was holding onto him so tightly.

Both of them stayed quiet as they followed the rest of their group and turned the street corner.

Lance stopped walking, and Keith hesitated, watching as his eyes widened.

“Whoa,” he breathed the word in surprise.

The crowd was the largest one that they had seen yet. It was all focused around one intersection where two streets met each other in a neat plus. There were bleachers set up around the intersection and even further back on the sidewalks, and they were completely full, mages, familiars, and magic users crammed into them with no extra room. They all faced the streets below, where the entire intersection was enclosed in a heavy metal cage. It was made of wide, heavy bars, with only one door on the north side.

The only way to describe what was happening inside was a brawl, a cage match of mages and their magic.

Keith pulled Lance forward, pushing through the crowded group to get to a better area to see the cage. Shiro and the others had already found a good, relatively open spot to stand in on the sidewalk right up front, so he led the way through the sea of people until he and Lance got to the front and took up a space next to Shiro and Adam.

Inside the cage, two mages battled each other. One had some type of earth elemental magic; the ground inside the cage was shifting and moving as the mage seemed to control it. The other mage had storm focused magic because a layer of dark clouds had materialized at the ceiling of the cage.

“How does the cage work? Does it keep their magic inside during the match?” Lance asked just as the mage with earth magic was flung into the bars with a blast of lightning. Lance’s eyes were still wide, and almost even bluer, as he watched the match intensely.

Pidge was the one to answer his question as she turned back and nodded, “Right! It’s a magical barrier that keeps the mages’ attacks inside so it doesn’t affect the audience.”

“Hmm,” Lance nodded once.

At his hum, Keith studied Lance carefully. Lance had never been to the city before, and even though he said he’d traveled a bit, he probably hadn’t seen a lot of other types of magic. He’d definitely never seen magic being done among mages in the week of the festival before the Bonding. While the familiars were rowdy and excited, the mages could be much more aggressive and flashier with their magic, eager to beat other mages in magical contests and shows in preparation for the Bonding and to impress other people throughout the festival.

Lance hesitated and then looked at Keith, and his eyes were stormy, almost stormier than the actual storm clouds in front of them. He waited for a few seconds before saying, “Do you think he’s that strong?”

“Which one?” Keith asked.

Lance tipped his head forward just as a heavy clap of thunder echoed off the buildings and crashed around them, making the audience rowdier and louder at the action. It was followed by another lightning bolt from the lightning mage, and the earth mage ducked under a large outcrop of rocks he created for shelter against the lightning.

Keith frowned, “It’s probably just flash.”

As they watched, another crackle of thunder roared from the cage, and a bright ray of light flashed as a lightning bolt struck the earth elemental mage and threw him across the cage. This time, the mage didn’t get up. 

“Lightning wins again!” a voice crowed, and Keith shifted his gaze to the small stage that was set up behind the metal cage on the far side of the intersection. On top of it, one man stood next to a large board with brackets on it, moving the victor’s name further down and tossing the loser’s away, as he shouted into the microphone in his hand.

“Do you want to challenge him?” Keith asked, eyebrow raised. Lance was still staring ahead intently.

Lance blinked, “I’d probably lose.”

Keith thought back to the moment Lance entered the bar, when he’d first felt Lance’s magic. It’d been more powerful that anything that Keith had felt before. He really, _really_ doubted that Lance would lose, even against something as flashy and challenging as lightning magic.

Lightning magic—and mages—were generally very powerful, but there was something about Lance’s magic that was just—it felt like raw magic. It was that intense.

To Keith, at least. There’s no way he’d lose to some damn lightning.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“You don’t?” Lance asked, tipping his head to the side.

Ahead, the lightning mage was still celebrating his recent victory, and the audience remained silent, no one offering any challenge to him.

Keith shook his head.

Lance hesitated, but eventually, he shook his head too. Keith had expected it; Lance seemed worried about his magic, like he thought it was too much, like he was afraid of drawing attention to himself. Keith only asked the question to offer him the chance in case he really wanted to. If he didn’t, then that was fine. It was pretty damn obvious just from standing next to Lance that he could defeat any mage that crawled his way in a simple brawl. Hell, just from the power that radiated from him alone, anyone in their right mind would stay the hell away from any cage match Lance was involved in.

Before they could say anything else, the cage door opened, slamming back against the side and clanging loudly, and the winner, the lightning mage, strode out and pumped both fists into the air, electric charge flashing down his arms with the movement. Behind him, a small group of mages ducked into the cage to retrieve the defeated mage, healing him on their way out and restoring the road to a perfectly flat and unmarred surface.

“Another stunning win for lightning!” the announcer shouted, voice ringing out over the street and intersection through the microphone. It echoed against the tall buildings surrounding them.

“Allura,” Adam called, grinning and nodding toward the cage where he was still clutching Shiro’s arms, “you should go!”

She laughed, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder, “Cage matches are not in my wheelhouse, unfortunately.”

The lightning mage continued to crow his victory, flexing his biceps and flipping his long, blonde hair around as he strutted for the crowd.

“Another challenger perhaps?” the announcer called theatrically. “Can anyone here best this mage’s lightning?”

The lightning mage riled up the crowd, calling enough lightning from the storm clouds above him to flash at his fingertips.

The crowd was totally silent.

“Without a challenger, the winner reserves the right to pick his next opponent!” the announcer cried.

Grinning maniacally, the lightning mage stalked the perimeter of the cage, eyes scanning the front rows of the crowd. As he inched closer, Keith’s fingers tightened on Lance’s waist, holding him tightly.

He almost wished he’d pushed Lance behind his back completely, hiding him from sight, as the lightning mage hesitated in front of their group, gray eyes settled on Lance immediately.

“You,” the lightning mage called, pointing directly to Lance.

“I’m good, thanks though,” Lance laughed nervously.

“I’ve chosen you as my challenger, and that’s my right as the current champion,” the lightning mage argued, eyes flashing. “You will fight me. Now.”

“Man, listen—” Lance started.

Keith growled, interrupting him, “Why don’t you just pick someone else?”

“He’s not _required_ to do anything,” Allura continued, voice cold, stepping in front of them and crossing her arms over her chest. “Move on. He won’t fight you.”

“Because he’s afraid,” the lightning mage sneered.

“Because he’s not a damn idiot like you are,” Pidge stepped up to the front too, even closer to the mage than Allura had been.

The lightning mage’s sneer deepened as he looked back at Lance again, and Keith wanted to lunge forward and rip it from his face. The mage said, “He must be a pitiful magic user, if there are so many of you defending him.”

His words were almost enough to knock Keith’s anger away. Did this mage not feel Lance’s magic? Could he not feel the power that radiated from him in every breath? Even now, just standing next to Lance was almost too much.

This was the part of the festival that Keith hated. The posturing, the fake swagger, that mages and familiars threw around in an attempt to impress crowds of people. It was endlessly stupid, in Keith’s opinion.

“Move along,” Shiro growled threateningly, Adam echoing him. “Pick someone else.”

“Is he a consolation prize for your group then?” the lightning mage asked, tone dangerous. “Does he even have any magic?”

“Okay, dude,” Hunk stepped forward, frowning, hands drawn apart in a placating motion, “it’s his first time in the city. He’s not going to fight you in a cage match. For your sake, move it along before one of my friends loses their cool.”

“First time in the city, huh?” the sneer was back, and it was worse than before, directed right at Lance, as the lightning mage spoke. “You must be from a ragtag village full of lesser mages and magic. Never traveled anywhere to see real magic, I bet. Probably not even bonded, if I had to guess.”

Lance stiffened at Keith’s side, and he felt a wave of cold, freezing magic wash over him. He worked to suppress a shiver. Seriously, could this mage not _feel_ what he was doing? Could he not feel the magic that was sitting right underneath Lance’s skin, ready to burst out and eat someone alive?

Allura turned over her shoulder, expression worried, as she felt Lance’s magic too.

After a stiff and tense few seconds of silence, Lance rolled his eyes and removed his cloak, handing it off to Keith, “Hold this for me.”

Keith folded it into his arms, suppressing the stupid desire to bury his face in it and inhale his scent, as he shook his head and said, “You don’t have to do this.”

“He probably can’t,” the lightning mage taunted, “even if he tried.”

“Fuck you!” Pidge said vehemently, shoving forward and reaching out for him. Hunk grabbed her shoulder and hauled her back.

“It’s okay, guys,” Lance said, eyes darkening a bit, magic turning even colder. “Hopefully it won’t take long.”

Keith reluctantly let go of Lance’s waist as he stepped forward. Once he was in front of the mage, both of them turning to walk toward the cage, Keith noticed that Lance’s long sleeve, light blue shirt was backless with a long slit cut from just underneath the seam at the neck to the bottom where it gathered at his hips. He could see the smooth skin all the way up his spine to the two, matching dimples in his lower back above the waistband of his pants.

_Fuck me_ , Keith thought, staring.

He shook himself. Lance was about to walk into a cage match. Now was not the time.

Lance and the lightning mage stopped just a few feet from the open cage door, hesitating there as the announcer and other crew readied the arena for them. 

“Do you have a name?” the lightning mage asked.

“Lance.”

“And what kind of magic do you have?” the mage asked, flashing his lightning again, obviously showing off. “Something to fight my lightning, I hope.”

Lance waved a hand in Keith’s direction and said, “My friend thinks so. I guess you’ll find out.”

“The rules are simple, newcomer!” the announcer interrupted, grinning ferociously at them from the stage. “Once you are inside the cage, there are no rules.”

“Okay,” Lance agreed.

The lightning mage paused for a few short seconds as he watched Lance closely. Keith wondered if the other mage could feel Lance’s magic now, if he was regretting his choice.

“Into the cage, mages!” the announcer said, voice echoing. “Let’s give them some encouragement!”

The crowd erupted into loud cheering, screaming, and roaring. Most people had drinks in their hands, hoisting their cups into the air at the premise of another fight. They had probably been at this for hours already, especially if the almost completed brackets on the board behind the announcer had anything to say about it. The lightning mage had been fighting for hours too, knocking down mage after mage with who knows how many different types of magic.

As Lance made his way toward the cage door, stalking right past the lightning mage to duck inside, Keith wondered if this mage had any idea what kind of magic Lance possessed.

And to really think of it, did Keith?

His first instinct was that _yes,_ yes he did know Lance’s magic. They’d spent half of the night pressed up against each other, carefully brushing against each other’s magic as they walked. And that moment when they’d first met as soon as Lance walked into the bar—he’d never felt magic like that before, not from anyone else in all the people’s paths he’d crossed in his life.

The crowd was still roaring as the lightning mage followed Lance into the cage, and once they were on opposite sides of the cage, the door slammed shut and sealed, locking them in until the match was finished.

“Oh man,” Hunk said, moving closer and throwing an arm around Keith’s neck to lean against him. 

“Do you think it’s too late to place a bet?” Romelle asked, standing up on her toes to look toward the stage, where some members of the crowd were still placing bets and trading coins.

Allura sighed, “While it would be an easy way to make money, I can’t believe we let Lance get caught up in a _cage match_ on his first trip to the city. His mother will have my head when she finds out.”

Pidge clapped aggressively, shooting Lance two thumbs-up when he glanced their way and said, “At least this guy will get his ass handed to him in a few minutes.”

Keith felt himself grin.

Inside the cage, the lightning mage didn’t hesitate. The storm clouds brewed above his and Lance’s heads, covering the entire ceiling of the cage, thunder so loud it echoed off the tall buildings around them dangerously.

The mage leered across the cage at Lance, and without hesitation, a bolt of lightning charged straight toward Lance.

Keith didn’t have time or reason to worry about Lance’s safety. As the bolt arched toward him from the storm clouds above, striking directly for Lance’s chest, Lance lifted his hand and waved it in front of him, slowly, casually.

The lightning struck an invisible shield and fizzled out mere centimeters from Lance’s chest.

The crowd fell into a shocked silence.

Keith did too, honestly. He’d never seen anyone strong enough to create a shield to stop lightning as quickly as Lance had just done.

It was enough to make the lightning mage pause for a brief second, but then, he attacked again, another bolt of lightning striking toward Lance’s waiting form.

Well, trying to.

This time, instead of Lance stopping the bolt with the shield, he took half a step to the side and reached up again, hand open as if—

He _grabbed_ the lightning bolt.

It happened so fast that Keith was sure he would have missed the movement if he hadn’t already been staring and paying careful attention. Even still, Keith wondered if he’d imagined it. He had never seen anyone move so quickly, and he’d definitely never seen anyone _grab a bolt of lightning._

Lance held the lightning bolt in his hand, and it was almost like it was frozen in time. Logically, Keith wondered if that was exactly what Lance was doing. Freezing a fucking _lightning bolt?_ Impossible.

It must not have been because as Keith watched, Lance grinned at the lightning mage and squeezed his fist, and the lightning bolt shattered into a million pieces, flinging itself into electrically charged, frozen pieces across the cage.

_Like snowflakes_ , Keith thought, both insanely impressed and horrified at the strength and control it would take to freeze and incinerate a bolt of lightning with next to no warning.

“Holy shit,” Shiro breathed, and Keith nodded.

The storm clouds in the cage shifted, and it started snowing.

Lance was already smirking.

“Who the hell _are_ you?” the lightning mage yelled, staring up at the clouds in disbelief.

“I might have forgotten to mention my last name,” Lance said, expression dangerous, blue eyes alight with raw _magic._

More snow fell from the clouds, already creating a small coat on the floor of the cage.

“Who are you?” the mage roared again, squeezing his fists and failing to produce any lightning from the clouds, the clouds that were now under Lance’s control.

“Lance Sanchez,” he replied, thunder echoing menacingly after his name.

The crowd surrounding the match took a collective, and surprised, breath, and the lightning mage deliberately glanced toward the sealed door, as if he wanted to suddenly dip out of the challenge.

“Change your mind about the challenge?” Lance’s voice was casual as he asked the question, one brown eyebrow quirked up.

“Of course not,” the lighting mage growled, calling lightning from his fingertips and forming it into a rough weapon—a sword—and pointing it at Lance. He continued, “Your identity will only make my victory sweeter.”

Lance rolled his eyes, but he was grinning, especially as he clasped his hands in front of him, pulling them apart to create an elegant, beautiful sword of ice.

He twirled the weapon over his shoulder, and Keith almost forgot how to breathe.

“Your move then, lightning,” Lance teased, settling into a fighting stance.

The crowd roared so suddenly that Keith almost jumped, but he and the rest of his friends joined in with the noise, cheering Lance on.

“Go, Lance!”

“Kick his ass!”

“Eat him for breakfast!” Pidge screamed, and Keith burst into laughter, leaning into Hunk as they all laughed, eager to watch Lance crush the mage in front of him. 

The lightning mage hesitated and then threw himself forward, lightning blade first.

Lightning and ice flew together, meeting each other strike for strike. It was fast, both blades clashing into one another repeatedly, almost too quickly to watch and keep up. The snow in the cage was even more chaotic now, swirling around the cage, tripping the lightning mage’s feet as he slid through the snow, steadying Lance even more.

While the fight was fast, it was also unhurried. Lance blocked and parried every strike that the lightning mage sent his way easily, only countering with wildly complicated and aesthetic attacks that drew more cheers from the audience. His easy stance and relaxed shoulders made it even more obvious that he was just playing with the lightning mage at this point, that it was all just a game to him.

It made the lightning mage angry, and the angrier he got, the more reckless his actions and swings became. He was slipping and twisting on the ice and snow beneath him, viciously slashing his lightning sword at Lance as he bared his teeth in frustration.

Lance kept an easy smirk in place throughout the entire sword fight.

“Yeah, Lance!” Hunk hollered, echoing the rest of the crowd’s sentiment. Keith joined in with his shouting, and Lance spared a second to throw them a wink, raising an eyebrow and grinning in Keith’s direction before turning back to the sword fight at hand.

A few strikes later, the lightning mage managed to move in even closer to Lance, parrying his ice blade away with a hard strike so that it left Lance open to an attack. The crowd shouted in alarm, but Keith was watching closely, close enough to see the glint in Lance’s eyes as the lightning mage reared back with the pulsing blade and brought it down toward his chest.

Quicker than humanly possible, Lance dropped his own blade, letting it shatter on impact, and he reached up, grabbing the lightning sword with his bare hands.

Steam sizzled in the air from the contact, and the audience gasped as Lance jerked the lightning sword from the other mage’s hands. He brought his knee up and snapped the bolt of lightning in half over it, sending more electrically charged snowflakes flying through the cage and slamming into the magical barrier, which was already pulsing and threatening to burst with the sheer amount and power of Lance’s magic inside the cage.

Silence echoed throughout the cage and the intersection.

The lightning mage slipped on the ice again, staring at Lance in surprise. His lip curled, and he rushed forward, fist raised—

Lance brought one hand up to his mouth and breathed, almost like he was blowing a kiss, and just as the lightning mage got within a foot of him, ready to strike, he froze in place.

Keith watched as a thin layer of ice consumed the mage, freezing him in place, exactly like a stone statue.

Lance propped his hands on his hips and turned to face Keith, where he was still waiting in the crowd, and lifted an eyebrow, almost like he was saying _Well?_

It was still completely silent as the cage door swung open, and Lance walked out, casually waving a hand over his shoulder, and allowed the clouds to dissipate, the ice and snow to melt completely, and the lightning mage to unfreeze, falling to the ground in a coughing, shivering heap.

The sudden roar of the crowd was deafening. Lance nodded, grinning a bit sheepishly as everyone cheered.

“And that’s Lance Sanchez for the win!” the announcer cried into the microphone. “A record number of losing bets this match makes for great odds on the next! Challengers, come forward!”

No one moved.

Lance laughed and shook his head, making his way through the crowd, where most people stepped back to give him a wide berth. The noise started up again, the announcer calling for another match, as a few mages stepped into the cage to drag the defeated lightning mage out.

“That was amazing!” Pidge shouted when Lance was close enough. “How’d you do that with the lightning? I’ve never seen that before!”

“Yeah, man, that was incredible!” Hunk echoed, clapping Lance on the shoulder.

Shiro nodded, grinning, “Great job, Lance. That guy looked terrified.”

Lance laughed, expression bright like the fucking sun, as everyone congratulated him. Eventually, when they were all talking among themselves again, Lance turned to Keith and raised an eyebrow.

Keith smirked in reply, “Told you it was all flash.”

He laughed loudly, stepping into Keith’s space and setting one of his hands on Keith’s forearm, gripping him lightly. Through his jacket, Keith could still feel how cold Lance’s hands were.

“Color you impressed?” Lance asked, grinning.

“Maybe a bit,” Keith teased, _flirted._

Lance’s grin was even bigger, somehow, after that. He ran his hand down Keith’s forearm until their hands met, skin on skin—

“ _Fuck_ ,” Keith hissed in surprise, jerking his hand back, as it shocked him.

Lance jerked back too, strands of hair sticking straight up, eyes wide.

The residual electrical charge that Lance must have collected and carried out of the cage from the lightning mage and his magic, and then unknowingly shoved onto Keith when their skin met, hurt like a motherfucker. Still, it didn’t hurt as much as the worry and fear in Lance’s gaze as Keith jerked back from him and hissed in pain.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Lance said immediately, taking another step back from him like it was his fault, like he was afraid of hurting him again.

Keith was sure that his hair was probably at least a little frizzy now—there had been a lot of electricity in the shock from the leftover magic—but he couldn’t stand the look on Lance’s face and in his eyes.

He took a large step forward, closing the distance between them again and reaching for Lance’s hand, ignoring the next shock, which wasn’t near as bad as the first, just a slight sting in comparison.

Lance tried to pull his hand back, but Keith held on, tilting his head to meet Lance’s gaze, eyes still full of worry.

“It’s fine,” Keith said, fingers curling around Lance’s wrist.

“I hurt you,” Lance’s voice shook.

“You didn’t. I can take a bit of electricity.”

Lance didn’t laugh. Instead, he clenched his jaw and said, “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” he said fiercely. “You didn’t hurt me.”

“I wasn’t paying attention. My magic is—too much.”

Keith stepped in even closer, so close that the few inches of height difference between them became glaringly obvious. He squeezed Lance’s wrist and said, “Then it matches mine. I said you didn’t hurt me. I can take anything you give me.”

Fuck, Keith didn’t realize how it would sound until the words were already out of his mouth.

Lance looked up at him sharply, and then, he said, “Anything?”

“Try me.”

A jolt of cold, freezing magic shuddered through him, starting at his skin where Lance was still touching him. It was powerful, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it made him want _more._ His own magic was already responding to Lance’s, wanting to reach out and touch him, but Keith kept a tight grip on it and refused to let it go.

Lance was watching him, waiting for a reaction, but Keith just grinned at him.

After a long moment, Lance relaxed. The tension eased out of his shoulders, and he let his head fall so that he was looking at the ground. He pitched his voice low when he said, “Okay. I’m still sorry. I didn’t mean to shock you.”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for,” Keith said fiercely. “C’mon, you just won your first cage match. What do you want to do now?”

Lance’s expression shifted again, and Keith watched as the final pieces of worry, anxiety, and fear eased out of his gaze and drifted away. He looked around the crowd again, studying the rest of the people and their group, where they were all pretending not to be watching them.

“What’s left?” Lance asked, a hint of a smile on his face. “I feel like we’ve done everything.”

Keith let himself squeeze Lance’s wrist one more time before letting go and offering the mage his arm, echoing his smile when Lance took his elbow. He said, “We’ve barely started.”

;;

“This has probably been the best festival I’ve ever been to.”

Keith looked over at Shiro, confused at the sudden topic change, “What?”

They were leaning back against a wall on the sidewalk, waiting for everyone to grab drinks from an outdoor bar that had been set up in the middle of the street. As the night wore on, more and more people filtered into the crowd. The streets were loud with music, laughter, and celebration.

Usually, it would infuriate Keith. Tonight, it didn’t.

Hunk and Allura had pulled Lance away from Keith a few moments ago, giggling and leading him over to the bar with Adam in tow as well. Pidge had been annoyed because Adam wouldn’t let her drink even though she was only a few months from the drinking age and no one was paying attention to ages tonight anyway, but she’d followed them too, which left Keith and Shiro alone.

Keith quit drinking almost as soon as they left the bar so early in the night. He didn’t want to be tipsy, or even worse, get drunk and act like an idiot. Most of all, he wanted to make sure he remembered every part of tonight.

“This is definitely the best festival I can remember,” Shiro said, correcting himself.

He pulled his gaze away from Lance again—he was like a fucking magnet—to look back at Shiro, who was grinning and already watching Keith. The expression made him a bit wary, but he asked anyway, “Why?”

“You’re here, and you’re smiling,” Shiro replied, voice and eyes soft. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

Keith didn’t have it in him to get angry. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest, maybe a little defensively, and said, “Yeah.”

“It’s a good thing,” Shiro reached out and gripped Keith’s shoulder. “I want this for you. I want you to be happy like this every day.”

He let himself look back over to Lance, who was bringing a pink colored drink up to his lips as he laughed at something Hunk said.

After a moment, Keith nodded, “Me too. But—”

“No buts,” Shiro interrupted. “Just for tonight. Let yourself have this.”

Keith clenched his jaw.

“Worry about the Bonding tomorrow,” his brother continued, squeezing his shoulder. “Don’t miss tonight because of that.”

Shiro was right, and Keith knew it. After a long moment, he nodded.

Tomorrow, during the Bonding, there was absolutely no chance that he would be bonded with Lance. He knew that. He _knew_ it. It just made tonight more special.

“Uh oh.”

Keith looked up at Shiro’s words, gaze following his brother’s to where Lance and Adam were standing at the makeshift bar, side by side, ordering multiple shots. Even though they were far enough away to not be able to hear what the two of them were saying, Keith had seen plenty of drinking matches before, which was obviously what was about to go down between them. In fact, the bartender was rolling his eyes as he set three shot glasses down in front of each of them.

“Oh man,” Shiro sighed, but he was grinning. “They’re going to be so fucked up.”

Keith smirked, “Let’s go watch.”

Shiro’s grin widened, and they made their way toward the bar, Shiro sliding into place behind Adam just as they took their first shot.

Lance tipped his head back, the long column of his throat and all of the smooth, tan, perfect skin on display as he swallowed the alcohol. It made Keith’s mouth water, looking at him right now.

They tapped the glasses back down onto the bar as they finished; Adam winced in the slightest bit at the sting of the shot, but Lance’s expression gave nothing away.

Keith leaned against the bar behind Lance, turning to watch as Lance and Adam picked up the next shot. Shiro was laughing, murmuring something to Adam while he frowned and counted down the next shot.

“Fuck,” Adam shivered, setting the shot glass back down onto the bar too hard. His face was twisted at the taste, and Shiro laughed again.

Lance giggled as he sat his own shot down, seeming completed unbothered by the straight alcohol. Keith moved a little closer, and Lance took a step back into him so he was leaning against his chest.

“Let’s go,” Adam said, reaching for the next shot, downing it quickly. Lance followed suit.

Their drinking game lasted a while longer, but for each shot that they took, Adam seemed to get tipsier and tipsier, blinking heavily and swaying back into Shiro’s grip. Glass after glass, Adam’s words started slurring, but Lance kept smiling easily, gripping the next shot and tossing it back without fumbling.

“What the fuck,” Adam slurred finally, blinking heavily. They were already into double digits with the shots.

Lance laughed, cheeks barely flushed, “I can keep going.”

Adam blinked again and then whined, pushing away the empty shot glasses, “Fuck you, Lance.”

Keith and Shiro erupted into laughter, cackling at Adam giving up. He was usually the one who drank the rest of them under the table, but Lance kept surprising them.

Lance, who was laughing and smiling and looked so fucking irresistible underneath the lights of the festival.

Keith glanced up, casually looking around them, but no one was paying attention. Their other friends were off at one of the side booths, ordering food, and even though Adam and Shiro were right in front of them, neither of them were paying much attention to Lance or Keith at all. Shiro was standing behind Adam, one arm looped around his middle, pulling him back, with his face tucked into Adam’s neck, murmuring something into his ear that had Adam closing his eyes.

“Hey,” Lance’s voice was soft as he turned his head to look at Keith over his shoulder.

Keith stared at him. Then, he murmured, “Hey.”

The smile that Lance gave him was the softest and brightest he’d seen yet. Lance turned around completely so that they were face to face, chests brushing.

Bravely, Keith reached out and set his hand on Lance’s side, curling his fingers around to Lance’s back underneath his cloak. At the touch, Lance stepped in closer, and he reached up to prop one arm on Keith’s shoulder, hand dangling behind him.

“Hi,” Lance said again, voice even softer now that they were so close.

Keith quirked an eyebrow, “Are you drunk?”

“Of course not.”

“Sure,” he laughed.

“I’m really not,” Lance echoed his laugh, eyes bright. “Scout’s honor.”

“I don’t see how,” he tipped his head toward the bar and all the empty shot glasses.

Lance bit his lip, smiling around the action, “I might have cheated a bit.”

“I saw you drink all of it, assuming it was actually alcohol.”

“It was! I just don’t get tipsy as easily as most people.”

Keith squeezed Lance’s side and pulled him in a little closer, nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t completely obsessed with Lance already. He asked, “How? Adam’s not easy to outdrink. Shiro and I have tried.”

“I think it’s my magic,” Lance shuffled even closer, leaning into him, arm wrapping around Keith’s neck.

“Hmm.”

“That’s what Mom says at least,” he continued casually as his fingers caught the ends of Keith’s hair and twirled the strands lightly, carefully.

It made him freeze. He’d never had anyone touch him like this before, and Lance did it so casually, so _meaningfully_ , that Keith wasn’t sure what to do next. Other than throw Lance up onto the bar and get his hands on him.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?” his voice was hoarse when he replied.

His smile faded a bit, but his expression was still bright and easy. He was looking at Keith—and touching Keith—like no one else ever had. Sure, he’d been with other people, had plenty of one night stands and flings, but it’d never been like this before. Not with anyone.

“Is this okay?” Lance asked softly.

“So okay,” he murmured, leaning in even closer. Everything around them was background noise, the bar, the people, their friends, the music, everything. None of it mattered, only Lance, only him, only right now.

Lance smiled again, “Okay.”

There was a light pause between them, and Keith kept his eyes open as Lance leaned further into him. He was just—so fucking beautiful.

“Guys, c’mon! Let’s go!” It was Pidge’s voice that interrupted them a few moments later, and Keith tightened his grip on Lance’s side just a bit before looking over to find the rest of their friends already watching them. Most of them were smiling softly, and even though they were all tipsy as hell at this point in the night, Keith knew it was because they were happy for him, for whatever was happening right now.

Even if it was just tonight.

Lance was still smiling, even as he started to pull back and look toward their friends. God, _their friends._ He had known Lance for less than a day, just a few hours really, and yet, it already felt like something big, something important. It felt like so much that Keith didn’t even want to think about it too much.

Keith met Shiro’s gaze, where his older brother was holding onto Adam, arm around his waist and cradling the other familiar to his chest. He was smiling gently in Keith’s direction, nodding a little, and he didn’t have to say anything at all to make Keith feel better, just like when he was a kid.

“Let’s go,” Lance said, reaching down with his free hand and gripping Keith’s, twining their fingers together. He pulled away, keeping Keith’s hand in his, as he led the way toward their group.

As they all started down the street again, making their way through the festival together, Lance was smiling and laughing with everyone else, and most importantly, he never let go of Keith’s hand.

;;

They walked down the streets of the festival holding hands and talking. They were at the back of their group now, the others having all left them alone once they noticed Lance was holding his hand. Normally, Keith would feel weird about being so open with someone, especially in front of his brother and their friends, but tonight, with Lance, he found that he didn’t give a fuck about whatever anyone else thought. He’d be damned if he let anything ruin the connection he was feeling with Lance tonight. 

“Hey! That’s Keith Kogane!”

“Kogane! Hey! Kogane!”

“That’s him! Somebody get his attention!”

Fuck. He’d thought that too soon.

Keith winced at the shouts that came from the crowd somewhere behind them. He pretended not to hear them, to keep his eyes focused on the festival in front of them, arm around Lance’s waist.

But Lance was turning back to look behind them despite Keith’s desperate attempts to ignore it.

“What’s happening?” Lance asked, curiosity alight on his face. “Why are people shouting your name?”

“Hey! Kogane! Turn around! Hey!”

“Keith?” Lance said, stopping and forcing Keith to stop too.

He sighed. Not again. Not _now._

The voices caught up to them as Keith and Lance turned around, and through the crowd, a group of teenagers, barely sixteen from the looks of them, appeared right behind them. There were five of them, all young and a mixture of mages and familiars.

“You’re Keith Kogane!” one of them, a young girl, pointed at him.

“Um,” Lance said, glancing between them, “do you know these kids?”

“No! But we know him!” a boy in the group shouldered forward. “Shift into your second form!”

“Look,” Keith started, staring at each of them, “I’m not shifting for you guys. It’s the middle of the festival. Get lost.”

They all groaned, and another boy shouted, “C’mon! Just do it! We want to see!”

Keith let his lip curl up, long fangs slipping down, as he smirked at the teens, “If you don’t get out of here, I’ll shift and eat you for dinner.”

Honestly, their reaction was perfect. All five of them paled, frozen, as they stared at his teeth. When Keith let out a low growl, they fumbled over each other, scrambling backwards and down the street as they disappeared into the crowd.

A second of silence passed before Lance squeezed his side and said, “So, what was that?”

“Nothing.”

Lance was grinning, “I didn’t know you were famous, and with teenagers, no doubt.”

“Shut up,” Keith growled, feeling himself blush lightly.

“No, seriously, Keith,” Lance continued, turning toward him, smile widening, “what’s it like? Being famous?”

“I’m not famous,” Keith growled again.

He finally broke, laughing loudly and leaning into Keith even more, even laying his head over onto Keith’s shoulder. He laughed, “You are! You totally are!”

“I’m _not._ ”

“I don’t believe you,” Lance sang.

Keith growled again, glancing around them. Their friends were already up the street, stopped at a booth together, not paying attention to them. A few booths surrounded Keith and Lance, where they were standing in the street, and conveniently, in between two of the booths, there was a small alley.

Lance was still making fun of him, laughing at him, and Keith pushed through the crowd that was filtering around them until they hit the sidewalk, and then, he dragged Lance into the mouth of the alley.

It was darker here, without the lights of the festival over them, but it was bright enough for Keith to still see Lance’s face and eyes.

Lance laughed, hanging onto Keith’s waist, “Do teenagers always follow you around?”

Keith finally sighed. He had to admit that it was funny, now that Lance was laughing at him about it. Usually, Keith _hated_ when people, especially teenagers, approached him and asked him to shift to his wolf form. It was common knowledge that he was a dire wolf because of how people talked about him, but because his form was so rare, he was an oddity. Well, his form and the fact that he was so powerful _and_ unbonded.

People asking him to shift was a common thing, especially during the festival when they lost their inhibitions and manners.

“It’s annoying,” Keith grumbled. “It happens every year.”

“What’s the deal with it though? Why did they want you to shift to your second form?”

Keith rolled his eyes and took a step closer, and Lance took one back, keeping the same amount of space between them, but inching closer to the brick wall behind him. The movement made Keith pause because this whole time, all night, Lance hadn’t moved away from him or stopped his attempts to get closer. In fact, it seemed like he was often the one pushing forward, with both his body and his magic. 

So, what was he thinking now?

Keith glanced over Lance’s shoulder, toward the brick wall, then down to Lance’s hands at his sides, palms turned backwards, like he was waiting for something. When he looked back to Lance’s face, his eyes were bright, inviting, and _waiting._

It gave him an idea. 

Keith followed him, pushing forward another step. He said, “I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it. It seems like everyone on the continent knows about me, especially since I don’t have a mage.”

Lance bit his lip, “I might have heard something. I want you to tell me anyway.”

Another step forward from Keith, and another back for Lance. They inched toward the wall slowly.

“Dire wolf,” Keith said immediately, staring at him, meeting Lance’s deep blue gaze evenly.

Lance was still for a long moment, eyes widening slightly. Then, he nodded and took a step back, drawing Keith closer.

“Is that what you’ve heard?” Keith stepped in again, so close that he could almost feel Lance’s magic reaching for him, playing with him, inviting him closer. It was fucking addicting. How was this, just tonight, supposed to be enough for him? Keith would be chasing this feeling for the rest of his life.

“You left out something,” Lance breathed.

Keith suppressed a shiver and took one more step in, “What?”

“Don’t they call you the Fire-breathing Dire Wolf?”

“Sometimes.”

Now, Lance raised an eyebrow, “Is it true?”

“What?”

“Can you breathe fire?” Lance’s back hit the wall.

Finally, Keith took the last step forward and brought his arms up to rest his hands on the wall on either side of Lance’s head, boxing him in boldly. He pitched his voice low, into a deep, hard growl as he said, “Would you like me to show you?”

This time, Lance shivered. It was just once, and even though the motion was so controlled most people wouldn’t have caught it, Keith did. Oh, Keith did. He’d only known Lance for a few hours now, but he was hypersensitive to his every move.

Lance didn’t look surprised at being pressed up against the wall, but one side of his mouth was curled up into a half-smile. Even though his hands had fallen to rest on the brick beside him, Keith felt it when Lance reached out with his magic and tried to pull him in closer.

“Yes,” Lance whispered, frost on his breath.

Keith leaned back just a bit and inhaled deeply through his nose, gathering up a bit of his magic and pushing it out as he exhaled. Soft, orange flames accompanied his breath, just a bare hint of his magic and fire, lighting up the dark alley and the small space between them.

Before Keith could say anything, Lance’s arms circled his neck and pulled him in, crushing him to his chest. Keith kept one hand on the wall but let his other arm snake around Lance’s waist, pulling their bodies together.

“You’re so warm,” Lance murmured, lips brushing Keith’s neck.

Keith breathed a laugh, “Your hands are cold.”

Slowly, one of Lance’s hands inched all the way down his back and to his waist before he slipped his hand underneath Keith’s shirt and jacket, pressing his palm to his bare skin on the small of his back.

“Fuck,” Keith muttered, pushing back into the contact.

Lance laughed, the sound breathless, and his hands were _freezing._ Keith never wanted him to stop.

He never wanted _this_ to stop.

For a long moment, they stayed pressed against each other and the brick wall. Lance’s hand stayed on his back, rubbing soothing, cold circles into his skin, and Keith pressed his head into the curve of his shoulder, closing his eyes, as he held onto Lance’s waist. The alley was dark and quiet, the noise from the festival muffled just enough to create an intimate moment in the middle of the chaos of the Bonding festival.

Even though he didn’t want to, eventually, Keith murmured, “We should catch up with the others. They’ll be looking for us.”

“Mmm,” Lance hummed, pulling his hand away from Keith’s back and straightening his shirt and jacket again. “Plus all the teenagers who want to see the famous Keith Kogane.”

Keith growled, breaking off into a laugh, “You’re never going to forget that, are you?”

Lance gripped his shoulders and pushed him back gently, hands smoothing down Keith’s arms and taking both of his hands. He was grinning as he said, “Nope.”

Keith rolled his eyes, and the gesture was fond. Fuck, he even felt himself _blushing_ because of Lance. He’d much prefer to spend a lot more time in this small, dark alley with Lance, but he knew everyone would come looking for them sooner rather than later. He kept one of Lance’s hands in his, smiling, and they made their way back out onto the street. 

;;

The rest of the night was filled with smiles, laughter, and good times. Lance stayed right beside him, holding onto his hand, as they experienced the festival together with their group of friends. Keith couldn’t help but feel like he’d been missing out all this time, that it was obvious Lance—this connection—was something he’d been missing his entire life.

And something he’d be chasing for the rest of it come tomorrow when Lance was bonded with a familiar and Keith was alone.

It didn’t matter though because he refused to think about it. Not tonight.

They drank, ate, and danced the rest of the festival. Hours and hours passed, and Keith found that his face was hurting from smiling so much, voice almost hoarse from laughing and talking too. Lance didn’t seem to mind. He stayed pressed into Keith’s side through it all, hanging on to him and smiling up at him.

_Don’t think about tomorrow_ , Keith whispered the thought to himself every time it happened.

The night wore on, time passing, and eventually, dawn approached.

Their group stopped on one of the outer streets of the festival, blocks and blocks from where they’d started earlier in the night. The festival was an all-night party, a celebration that never stopped in the week of the Bonding up until dawn of Ceremony Day. Then, people would rest and clean up the city before the ceremony started at dusk the following day.

Now, they were getting ready to go home. Despite it being almost five in the morning, Keith was wide awake. The rest of his friends, however, weren’t. Pidge was rubbing her eyes, leaning into Adam’s side, who was still a little drunk from earlier. Hunk and Romelle were both yawning as they talked, and Allura’s smile was a little tired too.

“Okay,” Shiro said, smiling, “we’ll meet up at the ceremony tomorrow. Let’s all go home and get some rest.” 

“Lance, you coming?” Hunk asked, yawning again. “You can crash with me, if you want.”

“That’d be great, thanks, Hunk. I think Keith and I are going to take a walk first though,” Lance replied, looking over to Keith with a soft smile.

He nodded once, immediately agreeing. He’d give anything to spend more time with Lance. He wondered if Lance felt the same way about him.

“Okay, just have Keith drop you off whenever!” Hunk smiled easily, clapping him on the shoulder before tossing his arms around Keith and pulling him into a tight hug.

The others took it as their cue to do the same. They all exchanged hugs, each of them hanging onto the other tightly. They were overly aggressive in their hugs with Keith, especially Allura and Adam, and he wondered if it was because he’d stayed with them throughout the night instead of going off on his own. He had to admit it was nice. This had been the best night of his life so far.

While the others were distracted with Lance, Shiro grabbed Keith’s arm and reeled him into his chest. Keith huffed as Shiro’s arms came up around him, but it was nice. He let himself close his eyes and hang on.

“I love you, little brother,” Shiro murmured.

Keith nodded, biting back a sudden onslaught of tears, barely keeping them at bay.

After a moment, Shiro pushed him back and waggled his eyebrows at him, singing, “Have fun!” before hooking his arm around Adam’s neck and walking off.

The rest of their group followed, waving and teasing them before heading down the street. Finally, he and Lance were alone.

“A walk?” Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lance grinned, but it was almost shy, “I’m not finished with you yet, Kogane.”

Keith grinned too, heart thudding in his chest, “Same here, Sanchez.”

;;

Compared to the crowded streets of the festival, the small paths in the wooded park were near silent. A light breeze rustled the leaves and branches of the trees overhead, and the tungsten park lights cast a soft, easy glow to break the dark.

Keith and Lance held hands as they walked, and now, they were mostly silent. It had been a long night already, but Keith was unwilling to give up any time he could potentially have with Lance.

Finally, Keith broke the silence as he murmured, “Are you nervous for the ceremony tomorrow?”

Lance let out a rough breath, laughing a little, turning toward him, “You read my mind.”

“Really?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I’m nervous. You’ve done it before though. Tell me what I should expect.”

“You’re going to do fine,” Keith said. “It’s easy. Mages are called forward, and when it’s your turn, you’ll offer your magic up, and if you’re compatible with a familiar in the ceremony, they’ll accept you.”

“Just like that?” Lance asked.

“Just like that, yeah.”

Lance was quiet for a long moment before, “But you’ve never found anyone you’re compatible with.”

Keith didn’t reply. They kept walking.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Lance’s voice was soft when he spoke.

Keith cleared his throat, “It’s okay. No, there’s never been anyone.”

“Why?”

It was barely a whisper, and Keith’s heart ached.

“It’s not going to happen to you,” he said fiercely, squeezing Lance’s hand. “You’re going to bond with someone on your first try, I know it.”

“What if I don’t?” Lance’s voice shook, revealing his nerves.

“You will,” Keith smiled.

It was impossible to think that Lance wouldn’t walk out of the ceremony tomorrow without being Bonded. He’d find someone straight away, definitely on his first try. His magic was too smooth, too nice, for it not to happen. There was no way that someone wouldn’t be compatible with him.

Keith wished he could figure out a way to tell Lance all of this, but it would be impossible to explain without implying how Keith felt about their magic together, how it was almost so _obvious_ that they were compatible even without the ceremony.

But, he didn’t want to risk influencing Lance’s thoughts on his magic. If something did happen in the ceremony tomorrow, then it wasn’t going to be because Keith planted ideas into Lance’s head. He wouldn’t go that far. He desperately wanted to bond with someone, but he wouldn’t knowingly tell Lance something that might not even be true in case it wasn’t. Besides, Keith might feel like their magic was compatible, but it didn’t mean it was. There was no way to know for sure until the Bonding happened.

“I’m sure it’ll happen for you tomorrow too,” Lance said.

Keith smiled, a little sad, “I don’t think so.”

“Really? Why?”

Keith fought against his impulses. He didn’t want to say something rash and affect Lance during the Bonding tomorrow but—it was already pretty damn obvious to him that if he wasn’t bonded with Lance, then there would be no one else.

And he really doubted that the universe would give this— _Lance_ —to him.

Instead of replying with what he was really thinking, he shrugged, “I can feel it. I don’t think it’ll happen.”

“That makes me sad.”

“Why?”

Lance shoved his shoulder into Keith’s then, hard enough to knock him sideways. He said, “Because I like you, Keith. Besides, it’s obvious that you want to be Bonded with someone. You’ve been waiting all this time. They’re out there somewhere, right?”

“You sound like Shiro.”

“Do I?”

Keith nodded, looking down at the ground as they walked, “He’s always telling me the same thing. Half of the reason I even show up to the damn ceremony is because I know he’d be disappointed if I didn’t. I already feel like a failure. I don’t want to make him more upset.”

Lance was silent. Keith had never admitted that aloud to _anyone_ before. He couldn’t make himself regret it either. There was something about Lance that made it easy for Keith to talk to him, to say and do things he’d never consider with another person.

He tried to memorize the feeling. He’d need it after tomorrow when everything went to hell.

“It’s easy to tell that Shiro is proud of you, Keith.”

“Maybe.”

Lance hummed instead of replying.

For a long while, they walked in silence. The trees started to thin, and Keith started down one path that led to the shore. They didn’t talk along the way, but it wasn’t awkward, just comfortable. Lance hummed to himself, and every few seconds, he would squeeze Keith’s hand to remind him he was there.

Keith led the way out of the trees and down to the shore where the gentle waves of the harbor lapped at the gravel shore. In front of them, the sky was growing brighter with every second, dawn steadily approaching.

“This is beautiful,” Lance said, voice soft enough to match the near silent morning. “I never expected the city to be like this.”

“It’s nice.”

“And I can’t believe I was missing out on the festival for all these years,” Lance aimed that ridiculously soft smile at him, the one that make Keith’s stupid knees shake.

“Me too honestly.”

Lance blinked, “What?”

“I don’t usually stay for the festival,” Keith admitted, kicking a rock into the water. “I only did this year because—”

When he stopped abruptly, Lance pushed the conversation forward, “Because of what?”

“Because of you.”

Lance held his gaze, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned toward Keith and caught his other hand, twining their fingers together.

Behind them, the sun crested the horizon. The morning of the Bonding had finally come.

“We should get you back to Hunk’s,” Keith murmured.

“Wait,” Lance tightened his grip on Keith’s hands.

Keith waited.

Lance took a breath. Around them, the sunrise was bringing the day to life. The sunshine reflected off the surface of the water, and even though it was still dim, Lance looked brighter than ever. Dawn was a good look on him.

Blue eyes met his, and there were so many emotions flickering through them it was hard to tell which was most important.

Finally, Lance asked, “Will I see you at the ceremony?”

Keith knew what he was asking.

All this time, after all these years, Keith had waited on the Bonding, waited on the ceremony to tell him who was connected to him, who was the other half of his magic. He’d been alone for so long, long enough for him to know that it was probably going to be like this for the rest of his life. He’d given up on it long ago, having a bond with someone, being connected to someone and experiencing someone else’s magic, and he had come to terms with the fact that there was no one else out there for him, no one compatible to him, no one to be Bonded to him.

Fuck the Bonding. He didn’t _need_ it. He didn’t need it to tell him what he already knew.

Looking at Lance right now, there was something in his deep, blue eyes that told Keith he was certain about this. For both their hesitance to talk about the bond aloud, it was obvious that Lance _knew_ this was it. Neither of them had to say it. It was obvious.

Their magic clicked together, almost perfectly. Even without an official bond.

It seemed too good to be true, impossible to even believe. Before tonight, Keith had never thought he’d go to the ceremony again. He had failed too many times, and he’d never thought that he’d find this.

Despite the look in Lance’s eyes and in his own chest, the confidence, the hope, Keith wasn’t sure. He’d faced the ceremony with optimism too many times before and he’d been left alone after each one. Just because they could be a match, it didn’t mean they _would_ be. Anything could happen.

Keith was sure of this though; there would never be anyone but Lance, Bonding be damned.

_Will I see you at the ceremony?_ Lance had asked. The question was still burning between them as the sun rose over their shoulders.

Keith took a breath, and then, he took a chance.

“You’ll see me there,” he said.

“And will you find me?”

It was easier to answer now. Keith held his gaze, “I’ll find you.”


	3. The Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another ceremonial horn sounded, echoing against the thick stone structure of the ceremony site and signaling the initiation of the Bonding. 
> 
> “Familiars!” the ceremony moderator called. “It’s time. The Bonding begins now. Destiny awaits you.” 
> 
> It was the same every year, and despite what the moderators said at the beginning of the ceremony, Keith’s destiny always alluded him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! Here's the final chapter of this fic, just in time for Lance's birthday! Of course, this fic is written for my lovely maire for being the best writing partner and friend I could ever ask for. I hope this AU was everything you wanted! More thanks to stephanie (who's on twitter now, you can find her @ScorpioDream3) for beta-ing this fic for me! 
> 
> Thanks to all of you for reading and for all the great comments and kudos. I hope you've liked this fic! You'll hear more from me soon, but in the meantime, you can find me on tumblr @somethingmorecreative1 and on twitter @smorecreative
> 
> Stay safe, stay healthy, and take care of yourselves xoxo

Keith looked into the mirror.

The picture there—his reflection—was grim. He wasn’t exactly frowning, but it was easy to see the haunted look in his dark eyes. The war paint on his face did little to distract from it; the dark painted lines across his cheeks, over his shoulders, and down his arms and chest, despite the intensity it added to his image, weren’t enough to counter the terror in his expression as he prepared to face the ceremony.

Not all familiars chose to wear war paint, especially since it was an old custom, but Keith thought it would be fun at his first ceremony, and since then, he’d done it every other time too. It was just a stupid tradition he never stopped.

He was already dressed in a pair of dark pants and his boots. He wasn’t wearing a shirt because of the war paint. Familiars shifted to their second form before they entered the grounds where the ceremony took place, so it made a shirt even more impractical. The Bonding had been happening in the same place since it first started, in the exact center of New Altea. It was a wide, open area with a few yards of grass and old, ancient trees on each corner of the square plot. In the center of it, the raised walls of the structure were made of stone and cut into blocks for seating. Traditionally, the only people allowed to observe the ceremony were government officials and the participants’ loved ones to keep it from being overcrowded, especially as the population of the city skyrocketed over time.

Even though Keith told them they didn’t have to, his friends came to support him every year. He pretended like it didn’t matter to him, but it did make him feel better, especially after the failed ceremonies.

Now, Keith was so anxious he thought he’d vomit. He’d done this eleven times so far, and not once had he ever felt like this before the ceremony. Not once.

It was because he knew what was going to happen.

After dropping Lance off at Hunk’s after their walk this morning, Keith had walked back to Shiro and Adam’s apartment, where Shiro had been waiting on him. Shiro hadn’t said anything, just patted him on the shoulder and guided him to the guest room to rest.

He’d barely been able to sleep. Instead, he had stared up at the ceiling for hours, replaying everything that had happened the night before, recalling the color of Lance’s eyes, the beauty of his smile, and the feeling of his magic.

It was going to be Lance or no one. He could feel it.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and then, “Keith?”

He sighed and turned to open the bathroom door.

Shiro stood on the other side of it, smiling gently, carefully, “You look good.”

“Thanks,” Keith breathed.

“Nervous?” his brother asked, lifting an eyebrow.

He nodded.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“You say that every year.”

“And I’m right every year.”

Keith sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead. He was going to get a headache if he couldn’t stop stressing about the damn ceremony.

“Hey,” Shiro reached out and set his hand on the back of Keith’s neck. It was a pack trick that their dad used to do when they were young, before he died, and it always helped calm Keith down. It was also the only part of him that wasn’t covered in the war paint. “Are you listening to me?”

He nodded again.

Shiro held his gaze and said, “I love you, Keith, and I’m so fucking proud of you. You’ve put yourself out there time and time again. Despite everything that’s happened, you’ve kept trying. That’s what bravery and courage looks like. You’re the strongest person I know.”

Tears welled in his eyes, and Keith clenched his fists.

“I know it’s not easy,” his brother continued, “and I can’t imagine the pain you’re in. It’s not a solution, but I’ll always be here for you. I’m not going anywhere. You’ve got me.”

His voice was choked, and he was struggling to bite back his tears when he said, “Thanks, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled softly, squeezing his neck again before letting go, “Ready to go?”

Keith sighed heavily, “Yeah. Let’s do this.”

;;

If it weren’t for Shiro and Adam walking at his sides, Keith would have bolted.

People were staring. He supposed he should be used to it by now; it had been happening to him for years, especially since he was a teenager as he trained with his magic and grew to be more powerful, then walked away from the ceremony each year alone.

The streets of New Altea were crowded this morning, and as they walked toward the ceremony site, people stopped to watch him. Everyone knew who he was, and with the war paint and no shirt, he knew it only added to the image people saw. The Fire-breathing Dire Wolf, still unbonded.

He knew they were all talking about it, asking, _do you think it’ll happen this year?_

Keith kept his eyes forward, and Shiro and Adam stayed at his sides, unyielding. It helped a lot more than he ever told them.

They didn’t talk on their way to the ceremony grounds, and even though it was a long walk, it didn’t help settle Keith’s nerves. In fact, by the time they arrived, he was more nervous than he’d ever been before. Usually, he was resigned, unphased, already disappointed, at the prospect of the Bonding, especially in the last few years when it became clear that he would never be bonded with anyone.

But today, there was a mage in the ceremony that Keith’s magic was compatible too. He knew it.

If they weren’t Bonded, then there wouldn’t be anyone else. This was his last chance.

They stopped at the sidewalk that faced the site of the ceremony. It was a large plot of flat land in the middle of New Altea, the only part of the city that hadn’t been redeveloped as time passed and technology changed. The block within the sidewalks was huge, and there were four ancient oak trees on each corner of the square. In the middle, a few yards of grass led to the stone structure that was used for the ceremony. It had two entrances, one for familiars and one for mages.

Keith swallowed nervously.

“Breathe,” Adam reminded him, smiling lightly. “Just keep breathing throughout the whole ceremony. It’ll be over before you know it.”

Shiro smiled too, “We’ll be out here waiting for you if you need us.”

Keith nodded.

They waited, and Keith sighed, “If it doesn’t happen today, I don’t know what to do.”

Adam’s gaze softened, and Shiro moved in closer to Keith again, reaching up to grasp the back of his neck comfortingly. It made Keith’s eyes sting. Since their dad died when Keith was a child, Shiro had been the one taking care of him his entire life. Even now, when he tried to remember what his dad looked like, all he could see was Shiro’s face.

“We’ll get through it,” Shiro said seriously. “Whatever happens today, you’re not alone. I’m with you.”

“We’re proud of you,” Adam said, holding onto Shiro’s arm and smiling.

Keith nodded and swallowed his tears and anxiety. This ceremony would be no different than the others; he’d face it just like every other one before.

“Remember,” Shiro nodded once, “patience yields focus.”

It was a saying Shiro repeated to him before every ceremony. Patience wasn’t one of Keith’s strong suits, but it was a good saying, and if nothing else, it was a reminder that Shiro and Adam were with him. When he went AWOL, when he was so deep into the forest or mountains or desert or wherever he got lost in the days, weeks, months after the ceremony, he’d shift back to his human form and repeat it over and over until he remembered where he was.

Behind them, one of the ritual horns sounded, and Keith straightened. It was almost time. He needed to join the others.

“Okay,” Keith said, steeling his nerves. He nodded to Shiro and Adam, “See you after.”

They both nodded and stayed on the sidewalk as Keith turned and stepped off into the grass, calling forward his second form and shifting.

The transition, like always, was smooth. One minute, he was standing on his two, human legs, and then next, his limbs were rearranging, thick, dark fur sprouting from his skin, and he was on all fours, towering over anyone who might come near him. In this form, his fangs were even bigger, more threatening. Everything about this form was threatening. He was a fucking dire wolf, after all.

Keith started forward, and he could feel people’s eyes on him.

_Patience yields focus,_ he thought to himself, repeating it over and over as he crossed the grass and fell in line with the other familiars waiting for the ceremony.

Ahead of him, one of the ceremony moderators, a mage, waited at the entrance to the ceremony site, the huge concrete platform surrounded by stone blocks for seating. The line was long today; there were probably already forty familiars or so, and more were still filtering in behind him. He found that placement didn’t matter much. Over the years, Keith had tried everything. He’d been first in line, last in line, in the dead middle, and nothing ever changed.

A variety of familiars had come to the Bonding today. Large cats, dogs, some birds, and even an elephant shifter already stood in front of him. Some looked very young, this probably being their first Bonding, but there were a few others that looked older. The familiars around Keith eyed him warily, mixed expressions in their gazes, and he was glad that no one could talk in their secondary forms. At least he didn’t have to make small talk with anyone.

They waited for what felt like a long time, but realistically, Keith knew it couldn’t have been long. He tried to sit still at the very least. One year, he’d started a fight with another wolf familiar in the line while they waited, and while it was a good way to burn off the excess energy, a fight was the last thing he needed today.

Another ceremonial horn sounded, echoing against the thick stone structure of the ceremony site and signaling the initiation of the Bonding.

“Familiars!” the ceremony moderator called. “It’s time. The Bonding begins now. Destiny awaits you.”

It was the same every year, and despite what the moderators said at the beginning of the ceremony, Keith’s destiny always alluded him.

The line started moving, and Keith got to his paws, falling into line as they moved into the ceremony site.

Keith was toward the back of the line, not at the end completely, but not close to the middle either. As they entered through the stone gate, the huge platform where the Bonding took place opened in front of them. Keith glanced around, and the seating was completely full, packed with observers. Like an amphitheater or arena, the bottom was made of ancient stone, only being patched and corrected with magic as it wore from age over the centuries.

In the middle of the platform, the most important part of the ceremony stood. It was almost five foot tall, and on top of the ornate stone structure, there was a curved plate, almost deep enough to be a bowl. Raw magic sat inside the bowl, just a chunk of it that was used for the ceremony. In order to bond mages and familiars, raw magic, unlike mage or familiar specific magic, was needed to seek out the compatibility between magic users. Raw magic was rare and hard to find, especially in corporeal form like this. When it wasn’t being used for the Bonding, it was kept in a secure vault in the city to keep unwanted hands away from it.

The familiars lined up on one side of the platform, and the participating mages were already in line on the other side. There were less of them than there were familiars, which meant it wouldn’t be an even Bonding today, which was just as well. Ceremonies that matched up in even numbers and complete bonds were notoriously judged as bad omens. Keith wasn’t sure he believed in it anyway, so it didn’t matter much to him.

He let himself glance over the line of mages even though he knew he shouldn’t, and just as he expected, his gaze was immediately drawn to one mage.

Lance.

He was standing near the end of the line of mages. He was in a much more traditional outfit today, a dark blue tunic and pants with his boots. He had his cloak on as well, the hood pulled up, but not so much that it covered his face. His hands were tucked behind his back, and he stayed still. _Elegant_ was a great way to describe him right now.

Absently, Keith wondered how many other familiars were looking at Lance and thinking something similar. He glanced over the rest of the mages, uncaring and unbothered. Most were young, and most, looked extremely nervous, especially as they glanced over him in his second form.

As Keith took his spot when the line stopped moving, Lance’s eyes settled on him. He only knew because he was already looking back. Lance’s expression was careful, and even though they were yards apart from each other, Keith could see the glint in his blue eyes, the small smile there.

In the west end of the ceremony site, where the sun was descending toward the horizon, another ceremony moderator stepped forward. A spell casted their voice over the grounds so everyone could hear them easily as they spoke to the crowd and participants.

“Mages, familiars,” the woman started, raising her hands toward the sky, “the Bonding begins. You will offer your magic forward, and Destiny will speak to you. A lifelong bond will be formed, to be cherished above all else.”

Keith’s heart ached at the words. The speech was the same every year.

“We begin now,” the moderator concluded. “Good fortune to you all. May you be blessed and find the other half of your bond.”

The ceremony began. The moderators motioned the first mage, the one at the beginning of the line on the left, forward. The young girl, no older than fifteen, was dressed in a pink cloak, and she hesitantly started toward the raw magic in the center of the platform. It was so quiet that her steps echoed on the concrete, and every familiar in the line froze, watching carefully, as she reached up to touch the raw magic in the center of the bowl.

It sputtered to life, glowing and sparking. It offered better and clearer energy, like a battery or boost, to show the mage their own magic and detect compatible magics from the familiars participating in the ceremony. When a familiar felt the connection that the raw magic highlighted between the mage and familiar, they were to step forward and wait until the mage accepted them.

Often, more than one familiar was compatible with a mage. It was up to them to pick between the compatible familiars.

For this mage, it was only one. As the raw magic whispered to the mage, a familiar down the line from Keith, a large cat shifter, stepped forward to offer themselves to the mage.

It was dead quiet as the young mage let her hand fall from the magic only to hold it out toward the familiar, smiling.

The cat familiar, a leopard, he noticed, moved forward to the mage and circled around her. There was a small laugh from the girl, and as the two stood in front of the raw magic, the mage reached forward, bringing her hand to the familiar’s forehead and sealing the bond with a push of her own magic.

Keith had seen it happen thousands of times. In the eleven times that he had participated in the Bonding, he’d seen bonds happen in front of him too many times to count, too many times to even guess. Every time, he wanted to look away, but he could never make himself. He just watched and waited.

Eleven years, and it had never happened for him.

The bonded pair moved back to the mages’ side together, walking as one, and when they were back in their position, the next mage stepped up.

Keith lost count of what happened. Some mages called up multiple familiars to pick one out of two or three, and slowly, more and more mages were bonded with familiars. Keith felt his nerves pick up every time a bond was finished. He wished it would end.

His gaze settled on Lance to help him pass the time and deal with the anxiety threatening to swallow him. The mage was calm throughout the ceremony, carefully watching all of the other mages approach the magic and create bonds with the familiars who approached. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, being so far away from him, and Keith couldn’t pin down his expression long enough to take a guess either.

Slowly, the mages on the other side of the platform were bonded with familiars, and even more slowly, the line ticked down to Lance.

Before Keith knew it, Lance was the next mage.

_Patience yields focus_ , Keith repeated the phrase to himself desperately.

Keith felt a wave of calm wash over him as Lance took the first step forward. It didn’t matter what happened right now. He knew that he’d had a connection with Lance yesterday. He’d felt it with his own magic; he knew it. He didn’t need the Bonding to tell him it was true.

If it didn’t work out today, right now, then Keith would move on. Lance would be bonded with someone, he wouldn’t be alone anymore, and that would be enough for Keith.

He didn’t realize it, but his heartbeat synched up with Lance’s steps toward the raw magic.

Lance moved forward, elegantly, gracefully, cloak billowing behind him. His expression was calm, but his eyes were stormy, as he approached the raw magic. When he stood in front of it, he hesitated for a brief second before reaching his hand up and brushing his fingers against the raw magic.

It reacted immediately and violently, shuttering and sparking against Lance’s magic brighter than Keith had ever seen before. Sparks of magic flew out of the ornate container, dissolving in midair and leaving the air heavy.

Before it was finished, Lance turned his head to Keith and met his gaze.

Then, from somewhere deep inside Keith’s magic, something he had never felt before, there was a small _tug._

If he had been in his human form, he would have gasped. The raw magic in front of Lance sparked viciously, brightly, and Keith felt another tug, a sharper one, one that came from the bottom of his fucking _soul._

He felt his heart stop. This was what a bond felt like.

Keith got to his paws. He wondered if he was shaking as much as he felt. It was deathly quiet in the amphitheater, so quiet that Keith’s ears ached.

Lance’s hand was out, already reaching for him, before Keith even managed to take a full step forward. He didn’t notice if another familiar stepped forward, and honestly, he didn’t care. Lance was reaching for _him_ , Lance was looking at _him_ , Lance wanted _him._

They were going to be Bonded.

A rush of magic, _Lance’s magic_ , hit him as he stood up, and its familiarity steadied Keith. He knew Lance’s magic. He’d spent hours beside Lance the previous night, their magic intertwined, playing with each other, looking at each other, _remembering_ each other. Even in the short amount of time that they had been separated today, Keith had felt the ache of his absence.

He’d never feel it again. He was going to be Bonded to Lance. Right fucking now.

Keith padded forward, head low, looking up at Lance. The closer he got, the clearer Lance’s expression became. He was already smiling, the biggest, brightest smile that Keith had seen from him yet, and his hand was still out, beckoning Keith closer.

Another wave of Lance’s magic hit him, but it was soft, easy, comforting, and Keith finally crossed the empty concrete between them.

“Hi, Keith,” Lance breathed, meeting his gaze evenly.

In his second form, Keith towered over Lance by a whole head, not to mention the sheer _size_ of his form. His dire wolf form was huge and terrifying, long fangs peeking out from his jaws, fur solid black and dark as night, claws sharp and clicking against the concrete. It was why most people stared at him, either in envy or terror.

But Lance was smiling at him. He was holding his gaze evenly—Keith’s eyes were the only thing that stayed the same when he shifted—and he was waiting. His expression was bright, and his eyes were clear. A stray tear dripped out of his eye and rolled down his cheek. Keith wished he could wipe it away for him.

As he watched Lance, Keith lowered his head so he was eye level with Lance, and Lance brought one hand up to Keith’s face, resting his hand across Keith’s nose and tilting his head down to bring their foreheads together.

The motion surprised Keith. Mages usually pressed their hand to a familiar’s forehead to seal the bond, but this, pressing their foreheads together, was much more intimate. Keith closed his eyes.

Magic—both Lance’s and his own—swirled around them, snapping the bond into place between them. Keith felt like he was being frozen solid and set on fire all at once. His nerves tingled, his magic jumped, and his limbs shook.

Lance pulled back from him and let his hand slip away, and Keith blinked. Lance was still smiling brightly, and he pushed his cloak back, shoving the sleeve of his tunic up and offering his arm to Keith.

It wasn’t odd for some bonded pairs to seal the bond with a bonded mark, especially for certain types of shifters, which generally included wolves. Some of the bonds that had happened here today had been sealed with bonding marks too. In fact, Shiro had given one to Allura, and even Adam gave one to Pidge when they were bonded. It was just a preference, really.

One that Keith had no idea he wanted so badly until Lance was offering.

Slowly, he leaned forward and opened his jaw, sinking his fangs into the muscle of Lance’s forearm, teeth piercing his skin. Blood flooded his mouth, and after a few seconds, he detached his teeth from Lance’s arm—god, the mark was going to be huge; it already wrapped around Lance’s entire forearm—and licked away the remaining blood, feeling his magic seal up the mark under his rough tongue.

As quickly as it started, their magic stopped and receded, settling into place in the bond between them and sealing it permanently. He’d heard plenty of other familiars talk about the bond before, and he’d finally stopped listening to them after a while, especially when he came to terms with the fact that he’d never have one anyway. But even with hearing other people talk about it, he never could have imagined how it would feel. He wasn’t sure he could accurately describe it, even now.

Lance’s smile was bright and fucking brilliant as he looked back at Keith. Then, he tilted his head to the side and took a step back, and Keith followed him, staying at his shoulder protectively while they crossed the platform and headed back to Lance’s original spot together.

It was disorienting to see the Bonding from this angle. All these years, he’d never been on this side before. He’d never have to come to another Bonding to participate ever again.

Keith pushed his head against Lance’s shoulder fondly, huffing impatiently. Lance breathed a laugh next to him and leaned back into him. After a long second, Keith straightened and sat perfectly still, trying to maintain some sort of composure.

He had always thought that leaving the Bonding alone each year was the hardest thing that he had ever done. He was wrong. Standing beside Lance, being Bonded with him and having to wait through the rest of the ceremony, was the hardest thing he’d ever faced in his life. It was literal torture.

It helped that Lance seemed to feel it too. He stayed right at Keith’s shoulder, arm brushing Keith’s fur, and magic brushing Keith’s, carefully, gently.

_Fuck_ , this was so much.

The rest of the ceremony dragged. Mages and familiars were paired up, and at the end, a handful of familiars were left alone and filed out of the amphitheater in the entrance they came in first. Looking over at them and watching, Keith’s heart clenched, and like Lance knew exactly what he was thinking about, he twisted one hand into Keith’s fur, pressing against him more solidly, offering silent comfort.

Keith let out a rough breath.

The moderator spoke again, but Keith wasn’t focused enough to understand what they said. Instead, all he could think about was Lance. All he wanted was to talk to him, to press up against him, to lean into his magic and close his eyes.

They were _bonded._

Finally, the line started moving. Keith got to his paws again, circling around Lance, stepping up to his shoulder as they started walking toward the west gate, where the sun was setting. Keith had never exited the ceremony this way before; only bonded pairs exited in the west.

Keith had never been one for symbolism, and even today, with Lance at his shoulder, he still didn’t care. All that mattered to him was that he was leaving this ceremony with Lance.

Lance was steady at his side as they walked. The audience in the stone seating surrounding the platform cheered loudly as the bonded mages and familiars left the ceremony site, making noise for the first time since the ceremony started. For once, the sound didn’t grate on his ears. By this point every other year, Keith would be halfway across the city, running from the world and all his problems.

Not today. Today, Lance ran his fingers through the fur at Keith’s shoulder while they walked away from the ceremony.

They followed the other line of bonded pairings through the gate and down the ramp. The small field outside of the ceremony site opened in front of them, and the pairs ahead of them split off into the grass, most familiars shifting back to their human forms. Keith had never seen this part before, never let himself think about the part that came after the Bonding.

Lance broke out from the line, leading the way over to an empty spot in the grass, and as he turned back to look at Keith, huge smile, bright eyes, Keith didn’t know what to do.

He rumbled, pushing his head forward into Lance’s chest.

Lance laughed loudly, reaching up to Keith’s ears, gently scratching for a second before framing Keith’s head and pushing him back to meet his gaze. He said, “I totally get why teenagers chase you around now.”

Keith huffed a breath right into Lance’s face, heart hammering as Lance laughed again. Looking at him, Keith realized how much he wanted to talk to him. He took a step back, and Lance seemed to know what was happening because he grinned, eyes alight with excitement.

As soon as he was in his human form, standing in front of Lance, his mage—holy _fuck, his mage—_ tossed his arms around him and crashed into his chest.

“Careful,” Keith chuckled, arms holding him tight even with the warning, “you’ll get war paint all over you.”

“Oh my god, I don’t care, come _here_.”

Keith laughed and ducked his face into Lance’s neck, breathing in his scent, relishing in the way that it was tinged with a small amount of Keith’s already. _God_ , this was insane. This feeling was so intense. How did people deal with this? Was it like this for everyone?

Lance was murmuring something into his neck, and his hands were clutching Keith, one gripping the loose ends of his hair and the other clutching his shoulder.

Keith tightened his arms around Lance, one around his waist with his other around Lance’s upper back, hand cradling the back of Lance’s head. He closed his eyes.

“Keith,” Lance voice’s around the syllables still made his knees feel weak. “Keith.”

“Lance,” he answered. It was all he could think anyway.

Lance pulled back far enough to look at him, and his smile was the most beautiful thing Keith had ever seen. There were a few tears in his eyes, and Keith wondered what he was thinking.

He didn’t have to wait long because Lance said, “I knew it was going to be you.”

“You did?”

Lance’s hand cupped his jaw, and the setting sun was beautiful on his skin. Keith couldn’t believe he was standing here right now. Lance said, “Of course I did.”

“How?”

“You couldn’t tell that our magic is compatible?”

“I could,” Keith admitted, looking away even as Lance tipped his jaw back to look him in the eyes. “I just—I didn’t think you’d pick me.”

“I’d never pick anyone else,” Lance said seriously. “If it hadn’t worked out, I was going to use my magic to trick the bonding anyway.”

Keith shook his head.

“I’m serious,” Lance replied, thumb grazing Keith’s jaw softly. “I knew it was you.”

“When?”

Lance’s smile softened, “After the cage match when I shocked you. You told me that your magic matched mine.”

“It does.”

“I know.”

Keith couldn’t say anything else. Instead of answering, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Lance’s.

They stood still, holding onto each other, clutching each other, and slowly, Keith felt all of the sting and aching around his feelings for the Bonding fade away. Lance was Bonded to him. He wasn’t alone anymore. Neither of them was alone anymore.

Like Lance was reading his mind, he murmured, “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you.”

“It’s not your fault,” Keith breathed, holding him close. “It’s never your fault.”

The sun was finally setting, and Keith opened his eyes to admire the way that the light framed Lance’s face. He was gorgeous, stupidly, utterly _gorgeous._ It didn’t take long for Lance to feel Keith’s gaze on him because he opened his eyes later, smiling again. Lance was always smiling so much. Keith wasn’t sure how he was supposed to focus while he was around Lance. The rest of his life would probably be made up of staring at Lance. Besides, there wasn’t much else worth anything that compared to it.

It wasn’t long before the grassy field became more crowded as members of the audience met their loved ones that had participated in the ceremony. Keith didn’t care. He kept holding onto Lance.

A few minutes later, Lance pulled back, glancing over his shoulder, smile widening. Keith turned, following his gaze, where Shiro was standing, teary-eyed and smiling. Keith looked further, and the rest of their friends were there too. Adam and Allura were at Shiro’s sides, and Pidge, Hunk, and Romelle were next to them, arms linked together, grinning.

“Hey,” Keith said, smiling.

Shiro burst forward from the group and tossed his arms around both Keith and Lance, dragging the two of them into his arms and holding on tight. Lance was laughing, obviously delighted.

“I’m so happy for you,” Shiro said, voice trembling. It made Keith want to cry too. He just managed to nod.

After a second, Lance squirmed out of Shiro’s grip, and Keith watched as he accepted hugs from the rest of their friends, but Shiro kept Keith in his arms, holding him close.

“I was so close to screaming during the ceremony, you have no idea,” Shiro said a few moments later.

Keith laughed shakily, peeking up at his brother, “I bet you were crying.”

“Oh my god, I _was._ Ask Adam. He brought tissues, and I used the whole pack.”

Keith laughed again, louder this time, and Lance looked back over to him at the sound, expression soft and easy. It made Keith’s heart beat faster.

Shiro finally pushed him back, holding onto his shoulders and looking at him, “I’m so proud of you, Keith.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” he murmured. “I love you.”

“I love you too, little brother,” Shiro squeezed him one more time before letting go, which didn’t do much good because Adam was next, sweeping him into his arms and holding him just as tightly. Then, it was Allura, who was equally as teary as Shiro had been, then Pidge, Hunk, and Romelle all pulling him into a group hug.

When they finally released him, Lance was at his side, tangling their fingers together and holding his hand. Keith turned his head, leaning his forehead against Lance’s temple. 

“Now what?” Pidge asked, leaning into Hunk’s side.

Shiro gripped Keith’s shoulder and grinned, “Now, we celebrate.”

;;

Keith sipped his beer while he waited for the bartender to finish gathering the rest of the drinks for their table. It was hard to believe that he had been in the same place yesterday, grabbing drinks, when Lance walked into the bar and his life. It seemed like it’d been a thousand years ago. Now that he was bonded to Lance, it was like everything before the ceremony was in black and white, and everything after was in sharp, bright color. He couldn’t believe it had only been a few hours since then. Even now, everything was so different.

The Wicked Nightshade was packed with mages, familiars, and other magic users who were celebrating the end of the Bonding. Like the previous day, the bar was rowdy and loud, and while it wore on his nerves yesterday, he found that it didn’t bother him today. Instead, he was calm, settled. He couldn’t even imagine how he’d been feeling twenty-four hours ago now that he and Lance were bonded.

Fuck, he still couldn’t believe it.

After the Bonding, they all walked over to the bar together, threading through the crowded streets of New Altea together. Lance stayed right beside him, arm tight around Keith’s waist, hand clutching his side. Keith mirrored him, keeping him close enough that their hips were pressed together while they walked.

It was the first time that Keith didn’t notice people staring at him. In fact, he would imagine that more people were staring at him than ever now, especially since he’d been successfully Bonded in the ceremony. Word had probably gotten around New Altea by now—hell, most of the continent too—that he’d been Bonded in the ceremony. Everyone that recognized him was definitely staring, but realistically, Lance would be the new target of their attention. There had been so much focus on Keith’s power and his lack of a mage that the new mage he’d Bonded with would definitely draw people’s attention. It was only a matter of time before people started questioning Lance’s magic and power and how much he had to be able to bond with Keith.

He didn’t give a fuck about it right now. It would have to be a problem for another day, and they would have plenty of them later.

The bond between him and Lance was more intense than Keith would have ever thought. Every time he’d imagined having a bond with someone, he’d thought that it would chase away the loneliness he’d felt for so long, that it would give him some sense of purpose for being alive. He hadn’t expected for it to be so much more than that. It was like he could feel Lance, like Lance’s magic was under Keith’s skin, sitting right at the surface with Keith’s. He couldn’t exactly read Lance’s thoughts, but the bond was so strong that he could feel vague inclinations, especially now, still high from the ceremony. He figured it would fade a bit as time wore on.

He hoped it wouldn’t fade too much though. He liked knowing what Lance was feeling, liked the fact that he could feel Lance in the bond, even if they weren’t standing next to each other.

A hand ghosted over Keith’s shoulder, and the touch was accompanied by a cold wave of magic that tugged at the new bond between them. Keith turned his head, mouth turning up into a smile when Lance appeared at his side, unclasping his cloak from his neck.

“Hi,” Lance said, holding it out for him. 

“What’s that for?” Keith asked, nodding toward the cloak.

“People are staring at you,” Lance said.

Keith raised an eyebrow, “People are always staring at me.”

“Not as much as when you wear a shirt.”

“I’m wearing war paint.”

“Even worse.”

Keith paused, and even though their friends were only a few feet away, and probably _watching_ them because they were all so happy about their Bonding, Keith moved in close enough that his chest brushed Lance’s shoulder. He ducked his head and murmured, “What is it? You don’t like people looking at me?”

“No,” Lance said honestly, smirk on his face as he turned and wrapped the cloak around Keith’s shoulders, hooking it in the front and drawing the material over Keith’s torso. He cupped Keith’s jaw in one palm and continued, “I don’t want strangers looking at you. You’re mine.”

Keith growled, the sound low in his chest, so low that only Lance could hear it.

The bartender set the drinks down in front of them, and Lance smiled again, a dangerous glint in his deep blue eyes, letting his hand fall away from Keith’s jaw so they could go back to their table and their friends.

The table was loud when they got back, passing drinks around and settling onto the same side of the booth, Lance tucked into his side, hand gripping his knee under the table. Keith had an arm around Lance’s shoulder, keeping him even closer, and their friends were all smiling and laughing, and it made Keith’s heart ache for an entirely different reason.

This was the best day of his life. He couldn’t believe this.

Lance must have picked up on his thoughts through the bond because he turned into Keith’s shoulder, pressing his face into Keith’s neck for a short moment. When he pulled back and looked up at Keith, already smiling, Keith grinned down at him.

Hours passed, and Keith couldn’t remember laughing or smiling this much in his life. Now, Hunk had started a game of pool in one of the corners of the bar, and slowly, he’d pulled everyone into it except for Keith and Shiro. Lance had slipped out of his arms with a gentle smile to go join them, and Keith hadn’t been able to take his eyes off him since.

“Still staring, huh?”

Keith growled, even though Shiro was grinning and obviously teasing him. He said, “Shut up. I can’t help it.”

His brother laughed, reaching over to punch his shoulder, “Allura, Adam, and I got you a Bonding gift.”

Keith paused, looking at Shiro, “You what?”

“We got you a Bonding gift.”

“What is it?”

Shiro reached into his jacket and pulled out a blank envelope, passing it to him, and Keith opened it curiously. Inside, there was a single plastic card.

“It’s a hotel room for the night,” Shiro said, “for you and Lance.”

“Shiro—”

“Hey,” he interrupted seriously, “whatever you’re thinking, I want you to stop. Bonds between mages and familiars are complicated and different with everyone. You can’t compare your bond to anyone else’s. Besides, it was pretty obvious that this is where it was going for you. There’s a reason that only very powerful mages and familiars are able to find both their bonded and mated partner in one person.”

Keith didn’t reply, just brushed his fingers over the hotel room key card.

Shiro continued, gripping his shoulder, “You and Lance deserve it. We’re so happy for you.”

“I’m—” Keith sighed and scrubbed a hand across his face, “I still can’t believe this is happening. What if it’s a dream?”

“It’s not,” Shiro said. “This is real, and you deserve it.”

After a long moment, Keith nodded, “Thanks, Shiro. This is—thanks.”

Shiro grinned suddenly, the expression lighting up his face, “You’re welcome. It’s getting late, so you and Lance should get going.”

“But—” Keith wasn’t sure how to tell Shiro everything he was thinking, how this had been the best night of his life, how he didn’t want it to end. He’d never had this much fun with them before, and with Lance by his side, it seemed like he suddenly _fit_ with them. It made so much sense, _everything_ did.

“Hey,” Shiro’s voice was soft, just like his eyes, “this is only the beginning. We’re going to do this every day.”

Keith looked down at the key card again, and after a second, he nodded again, unable to speak. 

He downed the last of his beer and slid out of the booth, walking over to Lance and wrapping an arm around his waist when he got there. Lance was laughing at whatever they had been talking about, but he leaned back into Keith anyway.

Eventually, Keith and Lance managed to make it out of the bar. The goodbyes were longer tonight, the hugs tighter, the smiles brighter. Everyone seemed to be excited about their bond. For the millionth time in the last few hours, Keith wondered how any of this was possible. As they were leaving, Adam pressed a bag into his hand, already packed with extra clothes for him and Lance. They’d obviously been planning this. Later, Keith would have to remember to ask Shiro how he knew it would be Lance.

Lance held his hand as they walked out of The Wicked Nightshade and into the cool, night air. Lance’s cloak was still heavy on Keith’s shoulders, draping him in Lance’s scent. He never wore cloaks—they were impractical when he shifted, and plus, he preferred his leather jacket—but he’d have to figure out a way to get Lance to give him his more often.

The streets were much quieter now compared to the crowds of the festival over the past few days. Keith kept Lance close, tucked into his side, hips brushing while they walked, and Lance hummed, leaning back into Keith and smiling up at him.

;;

The hotel Shiro booked them a room at was one of the nicest in the city, and Keith had a sneaking suspicion that Allura had gotten Coran’s help with it. Since he was a major city official—one of the highest ranking in the government, in fact—he had plenty of connections and getting them one of these rooms probably took one phone call. Keith didn’t mind; before tonight, he might have been more resistant to taking a gift like this from them, but now, all Keith could focus on, and all he _wanted_ to focus on, was Lance and their bond.

A fancy hotel room for the night would just be another bonus.

There were a few other people in the lobby of the hotel while Keith and Lance checked in at the front desk. There weren’t any problems, and a few moments later, the employee smiled and verified their room key, pointing out directions to the elevator across the lobby.

No one else climbed onto the elevator with them, and Keith wondered if it was obvious that they had just been Bonded this afternoon. After all, he still had his war paint on, which was visible on his neck and cheeks even with Lance’s cloak over him. Plus, it was impossible for him to go anywhere in the city without being recognized, least of all a fancy hotel.

He didn’t care. He was just glad that he and Lance were alone.

The elevator climbed the high-rise hotel slowly and steadily. One side of the elevator was complete glass, and the city grew smaller and smaller as they rose higher. Their room was on the 62nd floor, only a few floors below the top of the building.

Lance leaned against the glass, reaching up to press his hand to it, as he looked down at the city below them. The sleeve of his tunic fell with the motion, and Keith caught a glimpse of the bonding mark on his skin.

Keith moved forward, directly into Lance’s space, and reached for Lance’s forearm, hand gripping Lance’s wrist carefully.

The mark on Lance’s forearm was wider and deeper than he’d thought. He had seen it when he did it at the ceremony, but since then, he hadn’t thought to look at it again, especially since Lance’s sleeves covered it. The mark was a long oval, the impressions of Keith’s fangs and teeth clearly marked onto Lance’s skin. In fact, when he ran his thumb over it, some of the markings were so deep that he could feel the divots in Lance’s skin. He turned Lance’s arm over, admiring the other side of the mark too because it was so big it wrapped around both sides of his arm.

Guilt washed over him as he looked at it; he hadn’t realized he’d bitten Lance so hard.

“Did it hurt?” Keith asked.

Lance shook his head, free hand coming up to comb through the hair at the back of Keith’s neck and pulling him closer in the same motion. He said, “No, it didn’t hurt.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Lance rolled his eyes fondly. “It was nice. I liked it.”

“It’s—too much.”

Lance tugged on Keith’s hair, and he bit back a growl at the slight jolt of pain, trying not to make it obvious how much he liked it. Lance said, “Nothing is _too much_ with us. I liked it, so stop worrying.”

Keith was quiet for a few seconds.

“I thought you’d like how it looked.”

“I _do_.”

“Well, I do too,” Lance tugged on his hair again before weaving his fingers through it even more.

“Okay,” Keith agreed, leaning forward even more, bringing his other hand up to Lance’s side and tugging him closer. He dipped his head down and brought Lance’s arm up to his mouth, pressing his lips against the bonding mark.

Lance took a deep breath, and his other hand tugged on Keith’s hair again.

Slowly, Keith moved away from the mark, pressing another kiss to Lance’s elbow, then his bicep, and his shoulder. Lance took a sharp breath as Keith kept moving up, pressing his lips to Lance’s arm over his tunic, and then, brushing his lips over Lance’s collarbone. Keith’s hands caught his hips and held onto him, pulling him into his chest, as his lips pressed against Lance’s neck.

When the elevator slowed and the doors slid open, a soft _ding!_ announcing their arrival to the floor, Lance whined, clearly annoyed at the interruption. Keith leaned back from him, smirking even though he felt a light blush dusting his cheeks.

“C’mon,” Keith murmured, pressing his forehead to Lance’s, listening to Lance sigh softly.

They nearly stumbled out of the elevator, tripping over each other, refusing to let go of one another. Thankfully, the hallway was empty and quiet, and Lance’s arm wrapped around his waist as they quickly made their way to their room.

The room was dark as they entered, and Keith reached for the wall, flipping one of the light switches and cutting a lamp on in the hallway to brighten the room. The short hallway opened into a large room. Instead of a hotel room, it looked more like a studio apartment with nice, expensive accessories. There was a small kitchen just off the hallway that overlooked a small living space with two couches and a recliner. On the other side of the room, there was a large bed with a door that most likely led to a bathroom. Most notably, the wall on the other side of the room was one, large window from floor to ceiling that overlooked the city.

“Wow,” Lance breathed, slipping further into the room and crossing the space toward the window.

Keith closed and locked the door behind them, drifting further into the room. Ahead of him, Lance looked beautiful, framed in the soft moonlight drifting in through the large window. Keith hadn’t been able to stop staring at him since the first time he’d seen him yesterday in the bar, and he didn’t want to.

“Keith,” Lance said his name over his shoulder, voice soft, “c’mere.”

He suppressed a shiver at the sound of Lance’s voice and took his cloak off, draping it over the sofa next to where he’d set their bag down. Then, he crossed the open space and stepped up to Lance’s side where he was standing at the floor to ceiling window.

The city was bright, sprawling in all directions, buildings alight with different color lights all the way to the shore where the city met the ocean. Above them, the night sky was clear, the moon just a sliver where it was surrounded by the twinkling stars.

“It’s so beautiful,” Lance said, looking out over the city.

It was beautiful, Keith agreed, but it was nothing compared to how Lance looked right now.

“It is,” he replied, turning toward Lance.

Lance turned to look at him, murmuring, “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“I still can’t believe this is happening,” Lance admitted, biting his lip.

Keith knew exactly how he felt. After eleven years, eleven failed ceremonies, it was hard to believe that this was real and that it was happening. It was more like a dream than anything else, honestly.

“I know,” Keith nodded.

After another moment, Lance stepped in closer to him, turning away from the window and toward Keith. It was still dim in the hotel room, but there was enough light from the lamp in the hallway that Keith could see Lance clearly. Slowly, he raised a hand to Keith’s shoulder, leaning into him even more.

“I still just—” Lance stopped as suddenly as he started, thumb brushing Keith’s collarbone methodically now. “I know you told me it wasn’t my fault or anything, but if I had been at your first ceremony, we might have been Bonded then.”

Keith squeezed Lance’s hips again, dragging him even closer so that they were completely pressed up against each other, chest to hips. Lance’s expression was obviously hesitant, maybe even a little sad.

“It doesn’t matter,” Keith replied fiercely. “We’re Bonded now.”

“I know but,” Lance sighed, eyes darting up to meet his once before looking away, “everything would have been so different. What if my parents had let me come to the bonding earlier?”

“We might not have been Bonded then,” Keith said, and even as he said it, it made his skin crawl, just the thought. “If you hadn’t met me yesterday before the festival, we might not have been Bonded at all. I didn’t look, but there were probably other familiars that you were compatible with and you could have easily picked one of them.”

Lance jerked back from him, hands tightening on Keith’s shoulders, and it was easy to see the horror on his face and in his eyes. He shook his head immediately, “No, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes I fucking do,” Lance’s voice shook. “There’s no one else I would have picked besides you. Now, eleven years ago, or eleven years from now. I already told you that you’re mine.”

“I know,” Keith said softly. He was surprised at Lance’s ferocity, but he guessed he shouldn’t have been. After all, Lance had been waiting for this bond for as long as he had. “I just don’t want you to think that everything would have been the same because it might not have been. It’s not your fault. We met yesterday and had a connection already so that’s why you chose me out of everyone else—”

“No, Keith, you don’t understand,” Lance said seriously. “I _knew_ yesterday that we were going to be Bonded. I wasn’t even looking at anyone else in the ceremony. I don’t even know if anyone else stepped forward, and I don’t _care._ ”

“That’s why I’m saying it might have been different when we were younger—”

“No, _no_ ,” Lance pushed against him, reaching out with his magic at the same time and grabbing onto Keith’s and _tugging_ at the bond so hard it made him grit his teeth. “When we met at the bar, I knew I liked you, but I didn’t know until later that our magic was so compatible, and _then_ after the cage match, I realized that we were going to be Bonded at the ceremony. I didn’t just pick to bond with you because I’d already met you, I picked you because it felt right.”

Keith was quiet for a long moment, and then, he whispered, “You liked me?”

Lance blinked, and then, a rush of heat filled his cheeks, and he blushed heavily, rolling his eyes and saying, “ _That’s_ what you’re taking away from that?”

“Well yeah,” Keith grinned, leaning in just a bit more. “Something like that catches my attention, especially when it comes from someone as gorgeous as you.”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Lance sputtered, obviously flustered.

Keith laughed softly, “I like you too.”

There was a short pause, and Lance blinked again, “Really?”

“Of course,” Keith’s grin was wide. “Why do you think I couldn’t stop staring at you?”

Lance bit his lip, but it was obvious that he was fighting back a smile. Keith brushed his thumbs over Lance’s hips, pushing down into the hollows of his hips.

“We’re going to talk about this now, and then we’re going to leave it behind,” Keith said, and he pitched his voice low and soft. “It doesn’t matter how long it took. If you had come to the ceremony when we were thirteen, we might have been Bonded then.”

“We _would_ have been Bonded then,” Lance interrupted.

Keith nodded, “I believe you, but it still doesn’t matter. We’re Bonded now. I would go through a hundred more failed ceremonies if it meant that I would be Bonded with you at the end.”

At the words, Lance’s eyes grew teary, and he blinked rapidly to prevent them from falling. Keith waited.

A few moments later, Lance nodded.

“Okay,” Keith breathed.

They stood in silence for a long time, Lance looking out of the window and down to the city and Keith looking at Lance. He’d seen the city enough, and there was nothing as beautiful as Lance was right now.

“Can I kiss you?” Keith asked, taking a chance. He didn’t want to wait anymore.

Immediately, Lance’s arms circled his neck and pulled him closer, pressing their bodies more firmly against one another. In the space between them, he murmured, “Yes.”

He leaned in slowly. Lance’s eyes closed when he was barely a breath away, and Keith watched him for a few seconds before leaning in and pressing their lips together.

At first, it was slow, easy. Keith kissed him carefully, gently, and at the same time, he squeezed Lance’s hips, holding him close, knowing that Lance was the most precious thing to him now—the only real thing that mattered anymore.

Then, their magic got involved.

It surged between them, scorching heat and freezing ice meeting in their bond. It was sharp, sudden, and Lance gasped into his mouth at the feeling, opening up so Keith could take control of the kiss as he turned them and pressed Lance against the glass window. He kept one hand on Lance’s hip, grip tight, and let his other slide up Lance’s side to his neck, tilting his head for a better angle as their mouths worked against each other.

It wasn’t the chaste, soft moment Keith had originally planned, but honestly, he should have expected this instead.

Another wave of Lance’s magic washed over him, and it had Keith growling and leaning in even more, pushing back with his own magic, more than he’d ever used with anyone else before. Lance gasped again, right into Keith’s mouth, and worked one of his thighs in between Keith’s.

Fuck, he was already so hard.

Lance whined into his mouth, and the sound distracted Keith long enough for him to take control. He licked into Keith’s mouth, the movement of his tongue accompanied by the waves of his magic he kept pushing down the bond and the tugs on his hair from Lance’s hands.

Keith wasn’t sure how long passed like this. He kept kissing Lance, kept responding to him, kept moving against him, until his lungs felt like they were on fire. Only then did he move away, and that was just to take a quick breath and move down Lance’s jaw and to his neck, pressing his lips and brushing his fangs against the smooth skin there.

One of Lance’s hands was still fisted in his hair, and the other was curled around his waist and gripped onto his side tightly; he wouldn’t be surprised if there were a set of bruises there tomorrow. At the touch, Keith let his hand slide down from Lance’s hip to his thigh, grabbing his leg and sharply pulling it up to Keith’s hip. Lance curled his leg around Keith’s waist, pressing into him firmly.

“Do you want to slow down?” Keith murmured the question against his jaw. He didn’t think so, but he didn’t want to make a mistake, not tonight.

Lance made a distracted noise as he pushed Keith back far enough to meet his gaze, “Of course not. I feel like—everything is so much.”

“I know. We can stop.”

“I’ve already kept you waiting for this long,” Lance joked softly, eyes twinkling. He looked _gorgeous_ against the window, pupils blown wide, face flushed, with the city and night sky in the background. “Besides, I owe you a reward for yesterday, remember? For the arm wrestling?”

Keith raised an eyebrow, “What are you planning on giving me?”

“Well, last night I was going to blow you,” Lance grinned, “and then I realized that there was a good chance we were going to be Bonded today.”

Keith’s hands tightened on Lance’s thigh and shoulder, and he growled, “Yeah?”

Lance nodded, one hand twisting back to Keith’s hair, fingernails scratching his scalp, “Yeah, so then I thought it’d be better to wait.”

“Good idea.”

Lance smirked at him, “Why’s that?”

Keith rumbled deep in his chest, “If you’d done that yesterday, I definitely would have wanted to fuck you.”

Lance pressed his mouth to the corner of Keith’s before pulling back and grinning, “I would have let you.”

Keith wasn’t sure that he was breathing.

Another moment later, Lance leaned forward and pressed his lips to Keith’s jaw, echoing Keith’s earlier movement, and then, he moved toward Keith’s ear, lips brushing his skin as he whispered, “If I asked you, would you fuck me tonight?”

_Fuck_.

“Honestly,” Keith admitted, and he almost hated himself for it, “I don’t think I can tonight. I’m—there’s no way I’d last.”

Lance smirked, the expression sharp and mischievous and hot as hell, and a tendril of his magic ran up Keith’s legs, his ass, his spine, until he shivered. There was something more in his eyes though, something desperate, wild, starving. Keith knew that he probably looked the exact same way. It was impossible to think about all the things he wanted to do with Lance tonight, but even this—just kissing him—was already so much. Keith couldn’t handle much more, not with the bond so fresh. They would rip each other apart if they weren’t careful.

Lance didn’t look like he wanted to be careful though, and Keith was almost ready to agree.

His voice was low and rough when he said, “Good point. Later?”

Keith tightened his grip on Lance, moving in even closer, and growled, “Of course.”

“Kiss me,” Lance murmured, letting his eyes close.

Keith leaned back in immediately and caught Lance’s lips, kissing him roughly, fangs down.

Lance moaned again, tightening his leg around Keith’s waist and pulling him in even more. Keith could feel that Lance was hard too as their hips met, and when he moved one of his hands to the window to steady himself, his hand slipped through beads of water.

He glanced toward it. Condensation had built up on the window around them, and droplets of water rolled down it from the heat of Keith’s magic hitting Lance’s frost. Suddenly, Keith found himself wondering if it was possible for them to break the window without meaning too.

Keith didn’t want to find out. Not tonight, anyway.

He shifted his hand to Lance’s other thigh and picked him up, hefting him into his arms easily and tilting his head back to continue kissing him. Lance let out a surprised moan into his mouth and adjusted easily, hands framing Keith’s face and running through his hair as Keith turned them away from the window and walked to the king-size bed.

Lance nipped at his lips, pulling his bottom lip in between both of his, and Keith growled deeply, the sound rumbling in his chest as he set Lance down onto the bed, pushing him back onto it and crawling forward to hover above him.

“Mmm, Keith,” Lance gasped again as Keith got his mouth to Lance’s neck, sucking a deep hickey into his pulse point.

Keith slid his hands down Lance’s sides and grasped the bottom of his tunic. He pulled back enough to lean over him and ask, “Can I take this off?”

“Oh my god, do whatever you want,” Lance said, already pulling his arms up for Keith to gently remove his tunic. Once it was gone, Keith took a long moment to admire Lance’s chest. He was broad and muscled, but also lean and willowy. The muscles in his shoulders and biceps flexed as he reached up for Keith, and his chest tapered down to his waist, where a sharp V started just before the waistband of his pants.

Magic pricked the air around them suddenly as Lance reached down the bond for him, and Keith met him with his own magic. Keith was lost in this. He was fucking _gone_.

Lance’s nails dug into Keith’s back, and Keith’s hips thrust forward, grinding down to meet Lance’s. For a second, Keith worried that this might be too far, that even despite what they’d talked about, what they both felt, he should have stopped anyway, but a loud moan echoed between them with another gasp of Keith’s name. When Keith looked up, Lance had thrown his head back, mouth dropped open, eyes half-lidded.

The sight was almost too much for Keith. He could have finished just from looking at Lance right then.

“Don’t stop. Keep going,” Lance murmured, reaching out with his magic and stroking down Keith’s chest and arms. It was so cold that it was close to burning him.

Keith adjusted his grip, sliding one hand down to Lance’s thigh and pulling it up to loop around his waist again. He kept his other hand right beside Lance’s head, holding enough of his weight off him to let him breathe easier. The position made the angle deeper, better, _closer_ as Keith thrust down again, watching Lance’s face as their hips met and their cocks dragged against one another through their pants.

Lance keened, head arching farther back, mouth glistening, as the long column of his neck was perfectly on display for Keith.

_Fuck_ , he was perfect, he was perfect, he was perfect—

Keith set an unrelenting pace. It was hard, fast, rough, and exactly what he needed and wanted. Lance responded perfectly underneath him, pushing his hips up with Keith to meet him at every thrust, tilting his head back to show Keith his neck—which he’d mark someday; he’d _die_ when he finally got to bury his teeth there as he fucked Lance—and his hands and magic exploring Keith’s body almost frantically, sliding down his back, across his shoulders, over his ass, down his legs.

It didn’t take long. Keith could _feel_ Lance getting closer after another moment.

Steam rolled off their bodies and clouded the air around them. Lance’s skin was so cold it was burning Keith, and right now, Keith was so hot that he was sure if he looked, flames would be at his fingertips.

Their magic just—clicked together. It was fucking addicting.

One of Lance’s hands, the hand with Keith’s bonding mark on his forearm—gripped his shoulder now, and when Keith turned his head, he could see the outline of his teeth from the mark earlier.

“ _Keith_ ,” Lance gasped again, moaning wantonly. Keith was going to chase this high for the rest of his life. He’d fuck Lance forever if he got to see and hear him like _this._

As they rocked together, Keith moved his hand from Lance’s thigh and grabbed Lance’s wrist, pulling his arm up to his mouth and biting, burying his fangs in their bonding mark again. His teeth didn’t line up exactly right like this, but it was so hot that Keith almost couldn’t see straight.

He was glad he was watching though because just like he thought, as soon as his teeth were embedded in Lance’s mark again, Lance came.

His magic jumped around Keith, tendrils of ice and power circling him and keeping him close as his orgasm shook him. Lance’s back arched, insistently pressing his hips and chest into Keith’s, and another loud moan fell from his open mouth. His eyes were closed, and his free hand latched onto Keith’s shoulder, nails digging into his skin again as Keith thrust one, two, three more times before finishing himself.

Lance used his other arm and both legs to pull Keith down on top of him fully, wrapping his legs around Keith’s waist and keeping him there, hips pressed together. Keith rumbled around Lance’s mark where his teeth were still buried in his arm and settled down on top of Lance’s chest.

A few moments later, when it felt like Lance had finally caught his breath and Keith could actually see straight again, Keith carefully pulled his teeth out of Lance’s arm and licked away the extra blood, watching as the mark sealed back together under his tongue with the help of their combined magic.

Now, there were two faint outlines on Lance’s skin. One from Keith’s wolf form at the bonding ceremony and the other from just now. Anyone in their right mind that even looked at Lance now would know he already belonged to someone, to _Keith._

He rumbled in satisfaction and nosed his way up Lance’s chest and neck, breathing in his scent and licking the sweat away. Keith couldn’t get enough of him.

Lance’s hand trailed up and down his back, brushing over his spine while his other threaded through his hair and gently pulled at the strands every few seconds. Their magic pushed and pulled against each other as they laid together, and Keith wondered what was coming next.

He didn’t have to wait long. It was only a few minutes later, when Keith had his nose tucked into the space behind Lance’s ear that he murmured his name.

“Lance,” Keith growled softly in reply, right into his ear. It made him shiver, so Keith did it again.

Lance laughed then, softly, and the sound went straight to Keith’s heart. It was like fucking music.

_Fuck._ Was everything going to be like this now?

Keith pulled back enough to look down at Lance, who finally had his blue eyes open and was biting his lip to keep from smiling. His cheeks were flushed, and his hair was ruffled, laying in waves across his forehead. There were also streaks of Keith’s war paint across his chest where it must have smudged onto him during—everything.

God, he was beautiful.

“Hi,” Lance said quietly, moving one of his hands to Keith’s chest.

“Hi,” Keith echoed, staring down at him.

“That was nice,” he commented, smiling shyly.

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Was it?”

“Obviously,” Lance rolled his eyes, a light blush dusting his cheeks, “but I kind of wanted you to hold me against the window.”

Keith breathed a laugh and admitted, “I was afraid it would break because of our magic, and I didn’t want us to fall to our deaths tonight.”

“Hmm.”

“I promise to fuck you against plenty of walls and windows if that’s what you want,” Keith said, leaning down to press a quick kiss to his lips.

Lance hummed, catching his lips for a second longer and then nodding, “Thank you.”

They were quiet for a long, long moment. Keith settled on Lance’s chest, head tucked into his neck, leaning up occasionally to give Lance another lazy kiss. Lance kept his hands on Keith, one running over his back, sweeping down his spine and over his shoulders, while the other stayed buried in his hair, gently running through the strands and scratching his scalp with his fingernails.

He wasn’t sure how long passed when Lance finally murmured, “Keith?”

“Lance.”

“I’m so fucking glad I found you.”

There was so much emotion in Lance’s voice that Keith leaned up so he could see his face. Tears were already gathered in Lance’s eyes, and he blinked against them, one rolling down onto his cheek.

Keith leaned down and kissed it away, and then, he raised back up and pressed his forehead to Lance’s, murmuring, “Me too, Lance.”

;;

Sunshine streamed into the large window the next morning when Keith woke up, and Lance’s breathing was steady and deep beside him. For a long moment, Keith stayed there, still and listening, arms around Lance with his eyes still closed. It was the nicest way to wake up, and Keith would get to do it every single day for the rest of his life.

He still couldn’t believe this. He and Lance were Bonded yesterday.

The last two days had been the best of his life. Meeting Lance at the bar and going to the festival with him and their friends had been the first connection he’d ever felt like he’d had with anyone else. Then, the ceremony happened, and even though he knew that his magic was compatible with Lance’s, he never expected that Lance would choose him. He’d never forget the feeling of his and Lance’s magic twining together and settling into the bond between them. It only got better and stronger at the bar with their friends after the ceremony; Keith had never felt like he fit in with them, but with Lance at his side, everything made so much more sense.

Then—last night. Keith still shivered when he thought about it.

Lance shifted in his sleep, humming and turning further into Keith’s arms. His head was tucked into Keith’s shoulder, and one of his arms was casually wrapped around Keith’s middle. The sheets were pulled up to his head, and he was curled completely around Keith, clutching him even in his sleep.

It made Keith’s heart beat faster. It was pounding in his chest so hard that he was afraid it would wake Lance.

Keith took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Hours could have passed, but Keith found he didn’t care. He kept his arms around Lance, holding him as he slept, and listened to his breathing. The sun crept up, streaming in through the glass window, steadily heating up the hotel room. It was quiet, their breathing the only sound interrupting the silent morning.

Finally, Lance shifted in Keith’s arms, turning even further into his shoulder, his hand curling into a fist where it rested on Keith’s chest. Keith opened his eyes then, looking down at Lance.

Watching him wake up was going to be one of Keith’s new obsessions. He was just—so fucking beautiful.

“Mmm,” Lance hummed, muffled as he spoke into Keith’s shoulder. “Keith?”

“Morning,” Keith rumbled, sweeping one hand up Lance’s back methodically.

“Hi,” Lance sighed, and a few moments later, he shifted again, turning his face up to meet Keith’s gaze. His expression was soft, sleepy, and warm, blue eyes dancing as he looked up to him.

Keith smiled softly, arm squeezing around Lance’s waist, “Sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” Lance said, groaning softly and stretching against Keith’s form. “You?”

He hummed, agreeing, and they fell into an easy, comfortable silence. Lance was quiet, still shifting in his arms every few seconds, stretching and sighing and settling against Keith again.

A while later, Lance climbed out of bed and crossed the room to the bathroom, gently closing the door behind him. Keith rolled over onto his stomach, stretching, closing his eyes again, and breathing in Lance’s scent on the sheets and pillows.

Keith opened his eyes when he felt the bed dip down beside him, and Lance climbed up on top of his back, knees bracketing his sides.

“What’s this?” Lance’s question was accompanied by his hand tracing over the space in between Keith’s shoulder blades.

“My tattoo. Did you not see it yesterday?” Keith asked, turning his head over his shoulder to look up at Lance.

Lance shook his head where he was straddling Keith’s waist, and he reached forward, setting his hand onto Keith’s tattoo and running his fingers over it. He said, “I thought it was part of your war paint, not a tattoo.”

“No.”

“When did you get it?” Lance asked.

Keith was almost too distracted by Lance’s hands on him to answer the question. He cleared his throat and said, “A couple of years ago. I was 17, and it was a few days before the ceremony that year. Shiro and I were wasted, and I got it as a joke one night. Didn’t even tell the artist what I wanted, they just did it on their own.”

“Really?” the surprise was clear in Lance’s voice. “It’s your dire wolf form though.”

Keith hummed again, “Everybody knew about my second form then too.”

“You didn’t ask for anything? You just let a stranger give you a random tattoo?”

He shrugged, and Lance’s fingers skated down the side of his tattoo again, tracing its shape. Keith hadn’t asked for anything specific that night; he and Shiro had been drunk off their asses even though Keith hadn’t been anywhere close to the drinking age, and they stumbled into the tattoo parlor. He hadn’t given a fuck about it, so when he and Shiro looked at it the next morning when they were horribly hungover, they were surprised to find it wasn’t that bad.

The tattoo itself was huge, taking up the entire space between Keith’s shoulder blades with more ink tapering down the length of his spine to the middle of his back. Lance was right; if someone didn’t know he had it, it would look exactly like the rest of his war paint, which was why Keith kept wearing it when he had to be shirtless for the ceremony. The head of a dire wolf sat between his shoulder blades, almost like some strange logo, and the pieces of the design were painstakingly detailed with the same pattern running through each shape across his skin. The dire wolf’s jaws were open, head turned toward Keith’s right shoulder, and the ink was dark and black, stark against his pale skin.

Looking back on it, it turned out much better than he and Shiro expected. It took hours, Keith remembered that much, and Shiro lost his shit when he saw how much it cost when they’d put it on his credit card that night.

The artist had done a nice job, but Keith didn’t care for it much, if he was honest. He and Shiro had been drinking because they were fighting about the Bonding, like always, and then when they’d stumbled into the tattoo parlor, it was fun, but it wasn’t a night to remember, and the tattoo had always served as a reminder for the nights where Keith was alone.

“Is that why you bought me my bracelet?” Lance asked, breaking Keith out of his memories.

The sudden change of topic confused Keith, and he frowned, “What?”

“You must have recognized the bracelet when I picked it up, right? Do you think it was the same artist?” Lance’s words were accompanied by his fingers tracing the design of the different shapes in the tattoo that made up the dire wolf’s outline.

He also had no idea what Lance was talking about. What did he mean, his tattoo matched the bracelet they’d found at the ceremony?

Keith lifted himself up and turned over his shoulder to look at Lance, “What are you talking about?”

“My bracelet, Keith,” Lance said, rolling his eyes and holding his wrist out, where the threaded bracelet was still tied to his wrist opposite of his Bonding marks. “It’s the same pattern as your tattoo. Do you think it was the same artist?”

For a long second, Keith was quiet because no, he didn’t think it was the same artist.

Keith didn’t know if he believed in fate or destiny. He’d denied it for so long, especially after all of the failed ceremonies and years spent alone, that it didn’t feel at all possible now. But today, this morning, he woke up with Lance, with his Bonded, and it was a whole new world. It’d be ridiculous to say he didn’t believe in something that led him right to Lance.

When he’d seen Lance looking at the bracelet at the festival booth, he knew there was something familiar about it. He’d recognized the pattern but hadn’t realized it came straight from his back.

“I doubt it was the same artist,” Keith said carefully, almost wary. “But even if it was, I didn’t recognize it right away. I just knew it looked familiar.”

Lance was quiet for a long moment as his fingers traced over the pattern of Keith’s tattoo again. Then, he said, “That’s… a little weird.”

“Is it?”

“What?”

“Is it that weird?”

“I mean, yeah?” Lance said. “What are the chances of me picking up a bracelet with a pattern that matches your tattoo perfectly and neither of us knowing?”

Keith’s heartbeat was steady in his chest, and he rolled over underneath Lance, forcing him to kneel over him. His hands caught the back of Lance’s thighs, and he pulled him in closer, looking up at him gently and murmuring, “What were the chances of us meeting at the bar? Or of you being the person Allura was waiting on _and_ my Bonded?”

Lance blinked, “What are you saying?”

He shrugged, fingers flexing on Lance’s skin, “I don’t know. I just—it makes perfect sense, if you think about it.”

“As what?”

“As, like, a sign from the universe, or fate, or whatever you want to call it,” Keith sat up, pulling Lance in closer to him so their chests were pressed together. Lance was still hovering above his lap and looking down at him. “That we were supposed to be Bonded before we even knew it.”

A few seconds of silence passed, and then, Lance’s smile was blinding as Keith looked up at him, “Are you always this cliché and romantic in the morning?”

Keith rolled his eyes, but the gesture was fond, and there was a steady blush creeping up his neck and face as he said, “Just since I’ve met you.”

He laughed loudly, wrapping his arms around Keith’s neck and pulling him into his arms. Keith went easily, pressing his forehead against Lance’s shoulder and closing his eyes when he felt Lance’s hand on his tattoo again.

“I know you said you lived in the city sometimes,” Lance started, and for the first time since they’d met, he sounded nervous.

Keith didn’t like it at all. Lance sounded hesitant and worried, and Keith hated it. He never wanted Lance to think that there was something they couldn’t talk about, that they couldn’t deal with together. More importantly, he didn’t want Lance to worry about something so trivial. Future plans were important, but Keith would be damned if they were stressful. He’d waited his entire life to find Lance, and he’d follow him across the entire damn world, the fucking horizon, if it came down to it.

Before Lance could continue, Keith interrupted him, “Do you know where I’d be if we hadn’t been bonded?”

“Keith—”

“I’d be lost somewhere, stuck in the forest or mountains, or whatever fucking direction I ran in. I have Shiro and my friends in the city, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I live here. Not now. So it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll go wherever you go, full stop. I’ve spent my entire life looking for you, and you’re not getting away from me now,” Keith explained fiercely.

Lance looked like he was close to tears when he nodded, “I don’t want to take anything away from you.”

“You could never take anything from me because you give me everything I need just by existing, by being my Bonded,” Keith argued, voice soft.

Lance took a breath, obviously surprised, and then nodded again.

“My life is with you,” Keith murmured. “Wherever that is, I’m with you.”

“What if I said I wanted to live in a shack in the middle of nowhere?” Lance asked.

“I’m there.”

“What if I wanted to move to the mountains and live where it snows all year round?”

Keith huffed a laugh, catching onto the game, “I’d make you buy me another jacket, but I’d carry us up there and build you a house.”

Lance smiled, but it faded when he asked his next question, “What if I told you I wanted to help Allura with Lotor?”

“I’m with you,” he repeated, holding Lance’s gaze.

Lance nodded, and for a moment, they were silent. Keith kept his eyes on Lance, just watching him. He’d had a pretty good guess that Lance would ask him that, especially since they’d talked about it at the festival the other night. Keith meant what he said; it depended on what happened at the Bonding, and now, if Lance wanted to help their friends, Keith would give everything he had to track down and fight Lotor.

“First,” Lance started, pushing Keith back even more so he was flat on his back. Lance moved up, settling on his chest, knees at Keith’s sides, with hands sitting on his chest too. He continued, “I want to stay in the city for a few more days.”

“Okay,” Keith agreed.

“Then, I want to go home for a while. I need to introduce you to everyone, after all,” Lance smiled, and it was so fucking soft Keith wanted to scream.

He nodded quickly, “Whatever you want.”

“And we can figure everything else out later,” Lance finished.

“That sounds good,” and Keith was a little breathless when he said it because it didn’t just sound _good._ It sounded like everything he’d ever wanted in his entire life. It sounded like everything he’d ever prayed for, everything he’d ever dreamed about having, everything he thought he’d never get just given to him after so long.

Lance was looking at him so seriously, and even though Keith was getting pretty good at reading his expressions and feeling his emotions through the bond, this one stumped him. He frowned a little and asked, “What is it?”

“I’m falling in love with you, I think,” Lance admitted, biting his lip.

Keith grinned, stupidly giddy at the admission, hands catching Lance’s hips, “And here I thought you were into me just for the fame and magic.”

At the words, Lance scoffed loudly, blushing as he reached forward and cuffed him on the shoulder, soothing the sting after by brushing his hand over Keith’s skin, gentle and easy.

Before he could say anything else, Keith pulled him a little closer and said, “I’m falling in love with you too.”

Lance smiled, and it was even brighter than the sunshine streaming into their hotel room from the window. He leaned forward, laying down on top of Keith’s chest and curling into his shoulder, one hand finding Keith’s and tangling their fingers together.

Their bond was strong, beating, alive between them. Keith could feel it even now, just existing in the same space with Lance. He’d spent his entire life alone up until now, and he knew that if it came down to it, he’d do it again just for this moment with Lance.

Outside of their hotel room, New Altea was waking up, the sun rising, and the day starting. Shiro and Adam were probably already awake too, no doubt planning something for them later in the day. Allura and their other friends might already be off to see Coran to get started on their next mission.

Keith looked down to Lance again. His mage was still smiling and holding onto him tightly. For however much Keith already felt for Lance, already _loved_ him, he knew it was the same for Lance. He could feel it, the strength and ferocity that Lance had in his feelings for Keith.

It had taken a while to get here—his entire life so far—but Keith finally felt like he was alive. For so long, everything had been dull and quiet. He’d spent eleven years waiting for this moment.

He raised their linked hands to his lips and pressed a long kiss to the back of Lance’s hand, smiling when Lance hummed and curled further into his shoulder.

Right now, with Lance, Keith was awake, and he was done waiting. This was just the beginning.


End file.
